October Blog

For my October blog post I wanted to talk about interpersonal relationships in culture. I am currently taking a Career and Life Planning class, and it is helping me understand what I would like to do as a career in the future and what I would not enjoy doing. As each week goes by in this class, I am realizing that I want to be social in whatever job I choose to take on. Whether I work in sales, public relations, or anything else along these lines, being able to form interpersonal relationships is going to be a huge part of my career. Not only is good communication important in a career though, is it important in everyday life to form and maintain relationships.

The idea of listening in chapter 10 caught my attention the most. The book points out that “Public communication, like any other form of communication, cannot work if it entails speaking at someone; instead, it involves engaging audience members as people who are knowledgeable and competent, as relational partners of a sort. This section reminded me of an episode of the BIg Band Theory. In this episode, Leonard is trying to have a conversation with Sheldon about a problem he is having in his life hoping to get advice. Meanwhile, Sheldon is too busy thinking about Stephen Hawking that he won’t pay any attention to what Leonard is saying. This became extremely frustrating for Leonard because he needs advice, and he tried to get his friend’s attention many times unsuccessfully. Instead of causing more frustration and confusion on his friend, if Sheldon had just been a good listener and helped him with his problems they could have become closer friends. Leonard also would’ve felt more inclined to confide in Sheldon in the future.