Good communication often happens in the most unexpected places. Down at Kalk Bay Harbour I’m always amazed at the kind of streetwise brilliance in the way people talk there—quick, sharp, witty.
A sign at a small branch of Woolworths warns customers that if they behave badly towards employees, they’ll be removed from the premises. Let’s be clear: this is a redneck coastal town. You see women staggering down the main road in their pyjamas in the morning. You see men with bits of cardboard and bags of rubbish slung over their shoulders. That’s just the scene setter. These folks, sadly, probably don’t shop at Woolworths. But it gives you a sense of the place.
Still, maybe a bit of better communication could help—between cashiers and customers. If things are so tense that people end up shouting and screaming, surely the store’s management should be doing more to train their staff. Not just in scanning groceries, but in how to handle belligerent customers. I don’t know why some people feel so entitled to mistreat supermarket workers. Maybe they think they’re above them.
Of course, we’re not just talking about your garden-variety blowhards here—those people often have some kind of deeper psychological issue.
On the home front, the breakdowns are just as bad. A dad tries to explain how to use the new TV remote setup to his daughter, and she’s baffled—not because she’s dim, but because he’s explaining it like a flight manual. The change wasn’t communicated clearly.
Why can’t people just be clear?
They watch enough TikTok videos to be “informed” and—heaven help us—“educated” about communication. You’d think all that scrolling would make them better at it. Ha! Doesn’t work that way.
One problem is that people communicate fiddly. Disjointed. Their thoughts come in a torrent and just spill out. Why not pause for a moment before speaking? Gather your thoughts. Then express them simply.
In the corporate world, communication is supposedly prized—but it still falls apart. With everyone jockeying for position, brown-nosing bosses, and stabbing each other in the back, the whole atmosphere sours. Communication becomes cold, clipped, or just disappears altogether. It’s hell. But of course, everyone thinks they’re excellent communicators.
If you want real examples of good communicators, look to salespeople. They have to choose their words very carefully—because they’re on the line every day. Same goes for negotiators. When there’s something at stake, words matter. Just avoid politicians. With them, it’s lies, spin, and more lies.
Then there are the sophists—the so-called communication experts. They’ve hit the books, mastered the textbook definitions, and call themselves professionals. They like to think they’re excellent communicators. Please.
Truth is, communication often happens in the most unexpected places. Down at the harbour, I’m always amazed. There’s a kind of streetwise brilliance in the way people talk there—quick, sharp, witty. These are people who’ve had to learn fast. Say the wrong thing to the wrong person—thieves, drug dealers, wide-eyed schemers—and you could end up in serious trouble. Communication, in that context, isn’t just a life skill. It’s survival.
Where do people really learn to communicate? I joked about TikTok, but maybe it’s WhatsApp too—though if you can’t express yourself properly out loud, good luck stringing a sentence together in writing.
At any stage of life, in any situation, good communication still ranks near the top of the essential skills list. Without it, things fall apart.
