This Little Christmas Story

THIS LITTLE CHRISTMAS STORY

by Antonio C. Antonio

December 25, 2013

In this day and age of rapid development in tele-communications, we can only wonder how our forefathers utilized smoke signals and drums to convey messages across visual and earshot distances.  Today, aside from the regular mailing system, facsimile machines, electronic mail, etc., we also have the mighty cellular phone.  There are some mobile phones available in the market lately do not only have the SMS (short message service) but MMS (multi-media message service) and online virtual communications (such as Skype).  Using these lightweight gadgets, we could not only send alphabetical, graphic and picture messages but talk and see the person on the other end of the line as well.

Communication is so critically important in our lives that the absence or lack of it could possibly lead to certain disasters.  The following short story dwells, not only communications per se, but communicating with a purpose… communicating effectively… and, communicating intelligently.

It’s a Sunday dinner at the dela Cruz Family home.  Papa Pedro and Mama Nena, their sons Pedrito and Junior, and daughter Girlie were all animatedly exchanging notes about the new stuff they bought from the mall earlier that day.  Junior, the youngest dela Cruz, complained that his newly bought pair of blue jeans was a little long and needed to be trimmed by 2 inches.

After dinner, Junior left his denim pants on the sofa and went downstairs to see his playmates… Pedrito entered his room and continued doing school work on the computer… Girlie went to the family room to make telebabad… Papa Pedro went to the living room for his nightly coffee and newpaper… and, Mama Nena went on to clear the table and wash the dishes.

30 minutes passed and Papa Pedro, having finished his coffee and reading his newspaper, saw Junior’s pants, cut-off 2 inches and went to the master’s bedroom to sleep.  Pedrito got out of his room for a drink and, on his way to the fridge, saw Junior’s pants and remembering his younger brother’s request, cut 2 inches off the pants.  Girlie finally ran out of things to talk about on the phone, got out of the family room, saw Junior’s pants on the sofa… cut 2 inches more.  As if the irony wouldn’t end… when Mama Nena finished tidying-up the kitchen, she proceeded to the living room and did her youngest son a favour.  From a request of 2 inches to be cut, a total of 8 inches was actually taken off.  Needless to say, the story ended in a disaster… and Junior cried a bucket-full of tears that night.

Everyone would agree that all the dela Cruz family members meant well for little Junior.  However, their failure to communicate with each other in a seemingly simple undertaking proved to be a very painful experience, not only for Junior but for the rest of the family as well.  This sort of experience can also happen to us.  We belong and interact with other people at work, in school or other collegial organizations... environmental advocacy groups included.  There is no doubt that all of us mean well for whatever group we belong… And working together for the greater good of an organization entails communication… effective communications to foster efficiency and development.

Advances in communications technology are just tools for effective and convenient communications.  Communications is not only the mere motions of talking but the art of listening.  Listening, however, may not be enough... we must listen with our hearts.  Let us not be like the dela Cruz family in this little Christmas story.

 Just my little thoughts…

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