MESSAGE #587 - STOP SCREAMING!

Sometimes
it seems
a rise in decibels
is in direct
disproportion
to the importance
of a message.
Phrases like
“We want you
to head our
Chicago office;”
“Would you accept
the ambassadorship
to France?”
“Chill the wine,
I’ll be right over;”
are spoken
in warm,
quiet tones.
But,
“Where is
my package?”
“I told you
I didn’t want
any mayonnaise;”
“You locked
the keys
in the car?”
are shrieked
at top volume,
in the glass-shattering
range.
Screaming is an
unnecessary response;
and when the
shouting is over,
the cold facts
of reality
are still
quietly
sitting there.

In the 1980s, United Technologies ran
a series of advertisements in the “Wall
Street Journal.” This is one of my favorites.