DATE NIGHT TURNS INTO DISASTER NIGHT!

Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for SPCH 1311

February 18, 2013

By: Linswey Morlaes

It was a hot Texas summer day. All I could think about was the patio I’d be on in less than an hour, sipping my margarita. Tonight was date night! A very rare occurrence for parents of a three year old boy. That hour passed and I arrived at my destination where I found my “situation” with a very unpleasant waitress named Shelia. My husband Andy and I waited half an hour for a table and then around 10 to 15 minutes just to be seen by our waitress. When she finally did arrive to “greet” us we barely got a hello out of her. Shelia let us know, using nonverbal communication, that waiting on us was clearly the last thing she wanted to do. Between the sighs and tapping of her pen on her notepad as she rushed to take our drink and dinner it was obvious we were a burden. On top of it all, she rarely came back to check on us as we waited for our order to arrive. As I begin to encode (the process of selecting words and symbols to represent the idea. Butland, pg. 16) this first encounter with Shelia I am first struck by her lack of verbal communication, politeness and over use of nonverbal communication. Using “critical thinking” (pg. 42) I thought to myself, okay maybe she is having a bad day, and gave her the benefit of the doubt. Strike one… The restaurant was very romantic. The lighting was perfect and the music set the mood. The other guests around us seemed to be having a great time. The place smelled of great food, great times, and great cheer. We were excited, although a bit put off by the greeting we had received. How could this night possibly go wrong? Turns out we were hasty in our predictions of the night to come. I decoded (making sense of words and symbols others send us. Butland, pg. 16) our unsavory conversation with Shelia, with my husband Andy. We discussed how we received our waitress’ rude behavior and attitude. Had we done something wrong? Had we made her feel put off? After listening to the noise (refers to any interference in the communication process. Butland, pg. 16) of my stomach rumbling (physiological noise) and the baby seated next to us crying (physical noise) for about 30 minutes, our food had finally arrived. Our dinner order was of course: Wrong! Strike two… I was hoping the channel (the mode a message is delivered in. Butland, pg. 15) wasn’t going to be our meal, but in fact it was. I had ordered the cheese enchiladas and not, in fact, the chicken. This solidified for me the lack of communication and listening skills that Shelia clearly did not posses. Not a good trait for someone who takes orders all day long to have. The immediate feedback (the continuous back channeling of information from others as we communication with them. Butland, pg. 15) I gave our waitress was that in fact the order was wrong. She swore up and down that I had ordered the chicken enchiladas and that somehow this was my fault. But, in fact I don’t eat chicken, so therefore why would I order chicken in my enchiladas? I was outraged at this point and I asked for a manager to rectify the situation immediately. Strike three… Finally after what seemed like a lifetime I received the correct order. With a belly full of cheese I evaluated the culture (suggests that each of us operate within a larger societal groupings Butland, pg. 126) of Shelia. She was a Mexican teenager. She was more than likely around the age of 18. She probably took the job to have some extra shopping money. You can never have too many shoes. She more than likely still lived at home with her parents so this job was more than likely not a necessity for her. People that depend on their job for a source of income for rent or mortgage