The other day, I sent my brother a text. It included a picture of a fire hydrant, and my words of gushing love and admiration: "This is a token of my appreciation for your existance."
Upon reading this, most normal people might have felt a)confused, b)weirded out, or c)offended. However, Little Brudder and I like to use sarcasm to get our ideas across. He knew that my real message was: "I'm glad you're my brother and your giggle makes me smile. I miss your face and am excited to play with you at Disneyland in October!" See? For us, sarcasm plus silliness and a dash of humor equals to love. It's a very special bond.
Of course, this method doesn't work for everyone I come in contact with. For example, because I know that my darling little sister, age five, is too young to actually understand the sarcasm game, I have to be more simple in expressing my love for her. She knows I love her when I say, "Hey! Let's cuddle and watch Hannah Montana!" or "I have a good idea. We should go hide behind a door and jump out when Brudder comes walking by!" or even simply "You're my favorite sister. Come hug me!"
The situation is similar here at BYU. If I were communicating with one of my professors, I'd be very polite, and do my best to get my thoughts across in a professional, formal way. While talking to friends, I'd be much more open and casual. And if, for a completely random example, I was communicating with a very cute individual of the opposite gender, I'd be more bubbly, out-going, and use more obvious body language, in an attempt to say, "Guess what! I think you're way cute!" The way we choose to communicate with others absolutely correlates with our understanding of them.
Wow. Communicating is fun. I'm going to tell my brother how much I love him now. Anyone know any funny insults?
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6 comments:
Andria! I love how you always talk about your family it's so awesome! I totally agree with what you are saying.
Haha this is so funny and so true! I remember one time I answered the phone, and thinking it was my dad I sarcastically growled, "What do you want?!" They hung up, and I found out later it was my uncle who had a similar phone number...embarrassing. If it had been my dad, he would have laughed, but in that case it wasn't so funny. It's always definitely important to KNOW your audience (and which family member you're talking to, haha). I love your writing style Andria:)
P.S. sorry i don't know what was up with the deleted post above...
hahaa! what a clever way to explain different audiences. It's true, my brother and I have our very own language, almost. What a sweet note.
Your writing is very fun to read and you have good examples for each prompt. well done.
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