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Location, Location, Location...
Posted by Super Samuel
on
1/17/2010 11:56:00 PM
in
Samuel Goh Min Tzung
During the December holidays, I and a group of college friends went on a trip by ourselves to the sunny isle of Penang. Fifteen people, two cars, one destination, and one Garmin GPS gadget. What could possibly go wrong? The moment we hit the state of Penang, the GPS named Mindy by ‘her’ owner, ran out of battery and the driver had accidentally spoiled the car charger one hour ago. Thus there we were - fifteen teenagers in an unfamiliar land, with no food, no water, and a hell lot of cash, forced to abandon the wonders of technology and refer to the map that I brought along.
Oh how they mocked me when I showed them the map two hours ago. Suddenly all eyes were on the map and there was chaos as the three guys gave driving instructions while the girls just sat still and quiet with one of them playing PSP. After about half an hour of scratching heads, pouring rain, traffic jams, and not to mention maneuvering through Penang’s notorious one way streets, we finally managed to find our way to our hotel at the heart of Penang downtown. We thought our troubles were over, but it was far from it.
Just hours after arrival, we decided to walk to a nearby food stall to have a simple snack. After Ken and others had their oysters, we decided to make our way to Gurney Drive for dinner. There was only one slight problem – Mindy was still charging in the hotel room, and someone read the map and told everyone it was walking distance from the hotel.
It was not.
We spent the next hour or so walking along the roads while the day grew darker and darker. As the clock struck eight, we almost threw the map literate into the sea for causing us this dilemma. When it was 8.45pm, we reached the hawker centre and all the hunger bellies and appetites were filled. Now the only question was - How do we get back?
What really happened was that this person came to Penang with his family a few months back. During his visit, he went around in his dad’s car and saw many places. The problem was, we all assumed that since he sounded sooo confident in his directions, he must be from Penang. How wrong we were and we paid the price for our little miscommunication with bruised feet and prolonged hunger. Now this would have been forgiven had he not insisted on knowing the way to a very famous fired kuey teow store in Lorong Selamat and then taking us on an hour’s walk around the stall in circles. (We still didn’t find out he was not from Penang then. That information was revealed after the hunt for the noodle stall.)
Miscommunication can be destructive. In this case, we got lost for an hour under the hot sun. What if the situation changed? What if there is more at risk than simply time and perfect white skin?(Not to mention roaring bellies.) Even when we were looking for the hotel, there was misucommunication. There were too many of us giving instructions at the same time. I am pretty sure the driver was also confused. When we speak, we must make sure that our message gets across with the meaning it is intended for. We need to say what we need to say, say what we mean, and mean what we say. Also, jumping to conclusions is a very bad habit. When there are a lot of assumptions, the miscommunication grows wider and wider.
So be clear, mean it, and ask questions when you are not sure what is going on.
A reminder from your friendly neighbourhood
Samuel Goh.
Oh how they mocked me when I showed them the map two hours ago. Suddenly all eyes were on the map and there was chaos as the three guys gave driving instructions while the girls just sat still and quiet with one of them playing PSP. After about half an hour of scratching heads, pouring rain, traffic jams, and not to mention maneuvering through Penang’s notorious one way streets, we finally managed to find our way to our hotel at the heart of Penang downtown. We thought our troubles were over, but it was far from it.
Just hours after arrival, we decided to walk to a nearby food stall to have a simple snack. After Ken and others had their oysters, we decided to make our way to Gurney Drive for dinner. There was only one slight problem – Mindy was still charging in the hotel room, and someone read the map and told everyone it was walking distance from the hotel.
It was not.
We spent the next hour or so walking along the roads while the day grew darker and darker. As the clock struck eight, we almost threw the map literate into the sea for causing us this dilemma. When it was 8.45pm, we reached the hawker centre and all the hunger bellies and appetites were filled. Now the only question was - How do we get back?
What really happened was that this person came to Penang with his family a few months back. During his visit, he went around in his dad’s car and saw many places. The problem was, we all assumed that since he sounded sooo confident in his directions, he must be from Penang. How wrong we were and we paid the price for our little miscommunication with bruised feet and prolonged hunger. Now this would have been forgiven had he not insisted on knowing the way to a very famous fired kuey teow store in Lorong Selamat and then taking us on an hour’s walk around the stall in circles. (We still didn’t find out he was not from Penang then. That information was revealed after the hunt for the noodle stall.)
Miscommunication can be destructive. In this case, we got lost for an hour under the hot sun. What if the situation changed? What if there is more at risk than simply time and perfect white skin?(Not to mention roaring bellies.) Even when we were looking for the hotel, there was misucommunication. There were too many of us giving instructions at the same time. I am pretty sure the driver was also confused. When we speak, we must make sure that our message gets across with the meaning it is intended for. We need to say what we need to say, say what we mean, and mean what we say. Also, jumping to conclusions is a very bad habit. When there are a lot of assumptions, the miscommunication grows wider and wider.
So be clear, mean it, and ask questions when you are not sure what is going on.
A reminder from your friendly neighbourhood
Samuel Goh.
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