The lost art of responding

I just love it (yes, the sarcasm is coming up this early on in the post) when people do not respond back to emails, texts, and invitations (I'm hosting my sister's bridal shower in July, so I'm really looking forward to this phenomenon to rear its ugly head again soon).  Nine times out of 10 the response required is a simple "yes" or "no."  Not only is this behavior common with those knucklehead, absent-minded teens (har, har, they're just so precious when they complain about wanting to be treated like adults while they can't figure out how to use an ATM), this is also becoming normal for adults.  Why is this so difficult?

Five reasons:

• They forgot to respond back ("It was such a crazy week!  I blew a tire, had to go to Walmart eight times in the past three days, my dog had acid reflux, garden gnomes are slowly invading my yard...blah, blah, blah.").
• They don't have an answer yet.
• The answer is "no" or some other negative response, and they don't want to be the bearer of bad news.
• A great catastrophe occurred in life making them unable to respond.
• Your question, matter, or invitation is not important to them and/or they just don't like you (hey, it happens).
• They are zombies and would have already destroyed the medium needed to contact you (i.e., cell phone, computer, mailman).

OK, it's pretty obvious that I'm just being silly now with my reasons, but what really matters (as always, I'm talking to myself as well) is not to get so upset; we don't know what is happening on the opposite end.  Yes, it is so easy to want to throw your laptop out of a window when you need to install a very important program, and you've been waiting and waiting for a response from a customer service agent.  Yes, it's easy to explode when you are trying to plan for a party and only your mom and her dog have RSVP'ed.  Life is not supposed to run smoothly, and whenever humans are factored into a situation, something WILL eventually go wrong.

I think the best thing to do is to acknowledge that you may need to take an extra step and proceed appropriately instead of gripping and whining.  Ask for a supervisor or do business with a competitor.  Meet with the person face-to-face and KINDLY inquire about the matter.  Let this be a learning experience and do not invite so-and-so to an event again.  And, most importantly, make sure your friends aren't zombies.

Seriously, just remember your over reactive response WILL overshadow their lack of response.  This is a principle that holds true in most situations dealing with human interaction.  Ever been a part of those?

At the end of the day, it's all about our response and how we react, and Proverbs 17:27 sums it up simply:  "A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered."