Interpersonal Conflict

Background information:

When I was 7 years old, my father went to Japan to pursue his PhD. Thus, my mother took care of me single-handedly for 6 years. During this period, due to stress from work, my mother was not in good health. Despite that, she still cared about me the most.

Story:

About three years ago, my mother was diagnosed with some kind of tumour in her body. Although it was not fatal and it was treatable, it seemed like a bomb to my mother. Before the diagnosis, my parents kept it a secret from me. So I had no clue. That was until one day when their quarrel attracted my attention. I walked into their room. I saw my mother lying on the bed, sniffing. My father was sitting on the bed and staring at the floor. My mother noticed me entering and began to tell me the whole story. The first time the doctor told my mother that there was a tumour in her body, she was so shocked and scared. However, my father was quite optimistic and did not treat this as a big deal. Moreover, he did not offer to take care of housework in order to lighten the burden of my mother. Hence, my mother was very upset and broken-hearted.

After hearing the story, I asked about the real situation of this tumour and tried to reassure her. However, my mother was quite upset with my reaction as well. She did not understand how I could remain so calm after hearing the bad news even though she had raised me on her own for six years. She claimed that I was too cold to her and that I did not behave like how a good son should. At that moment, I had the impulse to ask her what she expected me to do. Hold her hands and cry with her? It was not what a man would do. But I knew it was inappropriate to say so.

Question:

If you were me, what would you say and how would you behave after hearing the news and what you would say to both my parents who were in the middle of a quarrel?

What does the future hold for us?

The most thought-provoking trends shaping the way we live and work:

Urbanization Lines

Communications Line

Transportation Line

Technology Line

Demographics Line

How to answer "What's up"

This is not a formal post.

Since this module is about communication, I think my question is relevant. It is often the case that many people like to begin their conversation by asking "What's up". As I am not a native speaker, I always feel confused about how to answer this question. Answering "Nothing much" to it seems my life is boring and the conversation between the person and I will fall into an awkward situation. If I really begin to describe my life recently, maybe that person is not that interested in. By saying "What's up", he just means hello. So I really do not know what is the best way to answer this question. Any suggestion or personal experience?

Communication skills

Why are communication skills important to me?

Firstly, from a pragmatic perspective, they can help me to develop or improve my interview skills. What should I talk about during the interview? What should not be mentioned during the interview? What kind of tone and what kind of body language should I use during the interview? To answer these questions, I think a good mastery of communication skills will be beneficial. Besides, effective communication skills will help me to better deal with colleague relationship and even the relationship with customers. It is very essential for me to utilize different communication methods when I am faced with different situations.

Secondly, from my personal interest, I am always intrigued by the topic of communication. As mentioned in class, communication is an art. Indeed, due to different cultural backgrounds or education levels, the ways people communicate can vary dramatically. I also find it very fascinating that some people can talk with diverse people without any barriers, even though they have such a large gap between them. Just like the example I mentioned in class, I really want to know how to communicate with my grandparents, finding the common topics between us.

It is impossible for me to perfectly solve these problems right after taking this class. However, I hope I can really learn some techniques or theories in communication skills and put them into practice. That is my essential goal for this class.