The World Wonders

“TURKEY TROTS TO WATER GG FROM CINCPAC ACTION COM THIRD FLEET INFO COMINCH CTF SEVENTY-SEVEN X WHERE IS RPT WHERE IS TASK FORCE THIRTY FOUR RR THE WORLD WONDERS”

Those few words have come to be the epitome of miscommunications. A message that caused unneeded angst, and ill-feelings where none was intended. “The world wonders”. Three simple words, and taken by themselves, they are insignificant and meaningless in their intent.

As a bit on context, messages, at least on the Allied side during World War 2, were often padded at the beginning and end, with meaningless gibberish in an attempt to make it more difficult to decipher. This message was no different. “Turkey trots to water” obviously had no military significance. Nor does “the world wonders”. This padding was supposed to be removed before the message was passed on. But in this one instance it was not. And, unbeknownst to the recipient, who was already worrying about whether or not he had made the right choice in changing the plans for his fleet, having that last bit of padding left in, incorrectly assumed he was being rebuked by his superior. But that was never known by his commander.

Words. Simple words, having the form of the glyphs we use when trying to convey a thought, and idea, when conversing with another human we cannot communicate with face to face, become extremely powerful. We write them, we type them, and off they go. Often times, we do not know the state the recipient is in at the time they receive it. Nor does the recipient know the state of the sender when it was originally written. A communication process that can bring both the greatest of joy, or destroy what could be a budding friendship.

In this day of instant communication, with almost anyone on the planet, by the simple act of pressing a string of characters on a keyboard, seems to have become the norm and not the exception. I remember reading some of the letters that our Founding Fathers, at least in the US, used to send to each other, as being such elegant prose. So much thought was given to the words, the phrases. It was poetry in the form of a letter, and beautiful. Now, our written communication is filled with acronyms and emojis.

And it is no different in our community, our world, our Heaven. Granted, as we become closer to the friends we chat, what we write may not need to be as measured as it once was. But still, we should always be courteous and mindful that these words are still not face to face, in a friendlier atmosphere.

And it is really no different in our everyday communications with others outside our Heaven. That person behind the checkout counter may not have intended to have what they said come off harsh, but just flubbed the message because their mind was more focused on the job at hand, and maybe the long day ahead of them. Or that person that made, what to them, was a simple remark in passing, was taken poorly because the person it was intended for, was having a tough day.

In the end, of each and every day, we are the product of not only what we do and think, but how we interact with others. Human interaction knows no gender boundaries. The carefully structured waves of differing air pressure we call sound, knows no gender. Those glyphs on the paper or on the screen, know no gender boundaries. Only we do, in our hearts and in our minds. So is it not incumbent on each of us, regardless of gender, to choose them wisely, thoughtfully, and with dignity and respect? I should hope so; I would surely like to think so. And I certainly hope the glyphs I have just put on this screen are received with the respect and dignity that I intended as I penned them. Because I do not wish the ‘world to wonder’ at their meaning.

Hugs