Sunday 2 February 2014

Communication Malfunction

Have you ever sent a text message or an email that has been misconstrued?
If you answer that question with a resounding "Yes!" then you will know exactly what I mean.

Everything makes sense to you, when you are typing. In your head, you know what you are saying, but on paper it doesn't always come across that way to the recipient.

This exact thing happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I typed one thing, in a quite genuine way and what I got back was a very unsavory reply. Firstly, I was a little angry, as I was thinking:
 'What the heck is this all about?! I have no clue what's going on now!'

So I start scanning though my sent messages, and although I was talking about myself, my friend was under the impression I was talking about her. So I try to explain this, but then something even more unexpected happened. I received a text message from another friend, whom happened to be at the home of the friend I was already chatting with, and she is angry with me too!

I desperately try to rectify the situation, trying to make it clear that they got the wrong end of the stick. To be honest, I was pretty horrified by the whole situation. I regard this lady as one of my best friends, and I was, and still am, deeply hurt that she would think I was that kind of person. I assumed that she knew me better.

A couple of days went by and things calmed down, and we started talking again, but things aren't what they used to be, despite my apologies and assurances that what was said was misinterpreted. There have been a lot of tears shed, as I'm not sure things will ever go back to normal between us, and I feel as if I have lost one of my dearest friends. I can't put into words how desperately gutted I am by that.


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