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Communication Disruption

It’s a communication nightmare.

You know Hurricane Helene has ripped through the Southeast, leaving death and destruction in its wake. Officials in six states are still assessing the lost lives and property … and they will be for weeks to come.

Dozens of people have died, and the count keeps rising. Whole neighborhoods are flattened. And those who survived the storm are struggling to find shelter, food, and water.

They struggle, too, to get in touch with family and friends and even with emergency responders. With no cell phone service, no power, and roads closed, people have found themselves cut off from potential help and comfort.

And then there are the rest of us, scattered around the country, desperate to make sure the people we care about are safe and sound. You may well have been trying, yourself, to get in touch with a parent in Florida, a sister in Atlanta, or a friend in Asheville. It’s not so easy, is it?

This headline in The Washington Post sums up the situation in one hard-hit state, days after Helene made landfall: Communication a massive struggle in flooded North Carolina towns.

The hurricane and its aftermath remind us how related we are and how, in 2024, we take for granted being able to call or text or email anyone at any time, or to reach out on Facebook or Instagram. It’s challenging—and upsetting—when those communication channels evaporate.

It’s also a reminder of how often we find ourselves blocked from communicating, and not by downed power lines and cell towers.

Communication can be a massive struggle for much more mundane reasons.

We may not speak the same language, literally.

I sometimes find myself challenged to understand a neighbor whose first (and maybe only) language is Vietnamese. Or Arabic. Or Spanish. Yes, I live in a diverse Chicago neighborhood where those languages and more are common. And here I am, with a hopelessly American tongue. That can be a barrier to communication.

Even among English-speakers, we run into differences. Doesn’t it sometimes seem that young people are speaking a different language from us Baby Boomers and Gen Xers? I don’t want to go all Paul Lynde on you, but sheesh! (And isn’t that a classic Baby Boomer reference?)

Beliefs are often barriers to communication.

There’s no better example of that than the red/blue divide in our country. Don’t you find it challenging to connect with people on the “other” side?

Never mind the woman who emailed me in a huff that she no longer wants to read what I write because I’m “not impartial.” With a close election coming up, I’m having a hard time sticking it out with actual friends who feel as strongly as I do, but in a different direction.

Can I just admit here that I’ve “snoozed” some Facebook friends to save myself a few weeks of agita over their posts and comments? I like them. I enjoy our connection. I don’t want to break up for good, online or in real life. And I also don’t want to see their snark in my social media feeds right now.

Our beliefs are very different. And they make it hard to communicate.

Ditto for attitudes.

They’re even less defined than beliefs, but these vague ways of thinking or feeling about them can certainly interfere with communication.

We just somehow know—or we think we do—that those people are not as smart, or not as moral, or not as hardworking as we are. Just look at the way they … well, you fill in the blank. We can find all kinds of evidence to support our attitudes about others.

And all of it makes real communication more challenging.

Status can stop communication.

Whether it’s corporate status, socio-economic status, or educational status, we tend to hear some people and tune out others. You can probably think of examples from your own experience.

That new guy in marketing? His idea was kind of interesting, but it didn’t really seem viable. Until the CMO suggested essentially the same thing in a team meeting.

You heard a community organizer complaining on the news and dismissed it. But then your congressional representative proposed a solution on the floor of the House and it kind of made sense!

And it’s funny how an advanced degree makes it so much easier to accept that someone knows what they’re talking about. Unless you hate those ivory tower liberals, in which case their education is a negative in your book.

Affection can make all the difference.

You know how you can share a meal or a cup of coffee and talk for hours with someone you like. I had lunch with my niece last week—until almost 5:00! Affection makes it easy to exchange stories, memories, and ideas. To tell them what’s going on with you. And listen just as much to what they have to say.

On the other hand, when we wind up in a conversation with someone we don’t care for, we’re edging toward the exit as fast as we can. Who wants to waste time yapping with that person we don’t much like?

The truth is, they might be brilliant. Insightful. Entertaining. And, for whatever reason, they’re not our cup of tea. Pure preference influences communication.

What about you?

I hope you’ve been spared the direct impact of communication disruption in the wake of this enormous disaster.

And if you’re fortunate enough to be looking at that “massive struggle” from a distance, I hope you’ll give some thought to the barriers that do get in the way of communication for you.

Of course, I’d love to hear about them. And it’s easy to communicate with me—just leave a comment on the blog.