Thursday, March 27, 2008

Put on those BLue Suede Shoes and Listen for a change


So, be honest now, how many of you have had this kind of conversation?
Airport Security: "Oh, California eh? Nice to get out of the cold for a while.."
Newt: "It sure will be."
Airport Security: "Ok, well, you just need to keep out your boarding pass for the security line you can put your license away. Have a great flight."
Newt: "Yeah, you too."
I have become SO lazy in my listening skills. In my courtesy skills. And in putting some thought into what comes out of my mouth.
I hang my head in shame.
It's not a hard thing to do. Just slow down a bit. Actually listen. And actually put some thought into what we will say next.
Why don't I listen? I mean REALLY listen?
So, that folks is my new goal. I'm going to work on my listening skills. And I'm going to take an extra split second or three to formulate a truly polite and truly sincere courtesy response.
Cause right now, I'm a slacker and it's gotta stop.
***
OH OH OH - on a totally different topic.
We brought the girls home last night that will be staying with us. They walked into the house and got through the ENTIRE night without Caleb or Lily fear barking.
AND THEN - when their mom came to get them this morning there was complete silence in my house. Kelley actually got in the door. And even got to pet Lily. And not one peep, not one bark.
I can't begin to tell you how good that made me feel.
Puppies are making progress. Big progress. I was so proud of them I could've burst.

8 comments:

R.E.H. said...

Oh, I've had many of those conversations... if you find a class that teaches listening, I'm signing up too ;)

What? Did you say something?

Jay said...

Okay, sounds great! Enjoy the game. ;-)

Jay said...

I'm a terrible listener too. I do the same thing. Somebody is talking to me like that and I'm just thinking that I want to get this over with and move on to the next annoying thing. I should be more polite too. Maybe I'll work on that myself.

gary rith said...

and don't you, don't you step on my blue suede shoes....
WELL anyway, Jay and reh and newt, next time you're in my neighborhood, stop in for a beer and we can work on our listening strategies. OK, we got cheap red wine too. And tortilla chips.

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to meet the pups.

Jo said...

Hooray for the pups, you must be so relieved!

I definitely need to work on my listening too. I tend to focus on something someone says & then while I'm thinking about it or reacting, I'm missing the rest. Maybe it's more of patience problem--great, another project :)

Mike said...

Yea, you too.

Dianne said...

yay for the pups!!

I was at a funeral and overheard one of the family members thanking someone for coming and his response was "Any Time!" - I almost exploded trying not to giggle.

A lot of it is just pre-programmed responses that come with time and habit. We hear something familar and we spit out response that most closely matches what we kind of heard.

As long as we listen when it's truly important I think it's OK.