Picture this; you step up to the sticky counter of a McDonalds restaurant, give the young worker behind the counter your order and then groan on the inside when the worker asks "What? What did you want again?" The worker is probably a teenager who pouts the whole way through their shift with a scowl plastered on their face; to busy thinking about the latest gossip, their current boy/girl friend, or how they are only going to be paid a dirt-cheap amount of money each hour. So of course off in their own world there is no way they could possibly try to get your order correct the first time around. After all, all you want is a measly Big Extra with large fries and a medium coke. This is where we are wrong. The employee's are there to serve, be respectful, helpful, and communicate with the person ordering. If the worker misunderstands or does not hear the order the first time around, they could politely ask, "Would you please repeat your order?" Or if they need the person (ordering) to speak louder they should tell you to speak up before you have finished explaining your detailed account of what you wish to order. Communication works towards both parties the employer's and the ordering person. The person ordering should look at the employee when speaking instead of fumbling with their two year olds jacket zipper or rummaging through your purse to find the baby's pacifier. This is just one example of a common communication problem where one or both parties are off in their own bubble.

Another problem, most commonly with teens, is when a group of friends decide to go to the movies or mall together. There is always that one person who is left in the dark, given the wrong theater meeting time, or is told to go to Gwinnett Place Mall when in fact everyone else is meeting at Mall of Georgia. It is not that this happens on purpose, it's just that the group of teens have assumed that everyone was called and told proper meeting time and place. There is an easy solution to this problem. Have each person always be designated to call another and so on; sort of like a phone tree.

Have you ever realized that the only way a juicy message spreads is if it is a juicy secret about someone or something big happening? Of course, there are exceptions to every rule this one included. When I was a youngster, I used to play the telephone game with my friends. Telephone is a game where one person whispers a message into another person's ear and so forth. Then the last person to hear the message shouts out what they think the ending message is. We would start out with something that would be "Meet me in the cafeteria in ten minutes." While your end message would come out "Let's go stand on a blue pop tart in the old cemetery!" This was of course a fourth grader's way of playing the big game of gossip because it was the closest we (my friends and I) ever got to juicy secret's. Pathetic is it not? This type of communication could be classified as "gossip " or "sticking your nose in other people's business" communication.

Another instance of miscommunication would be the phrase commonly known as, "Lovers Quarrel." When you start to go out with your boy or girl friend there is a communication problem waiting to happen. Yes, for the first couple of days you and your beau are all lovey-dovey but then you fall into the clutches of a dry spell. You both stop telling the other how cute they look in their blue blazer or how you love the way his eyes crinkle when he laughs. Then you eventually stop flirting of all sorts, become too busy to call, even to say hello, and then do not even bother with trying to go out of your way to please him/her. Communication is the biggest part of a relationship. While you do not have to compliment each other every day, you do need to remember to communicate with your significant other and try to pay them attention to let them know you still care. About them and your relationship that you hold close with them.

Last example of a common communication problem is that of when two friends are fighting. When you get into a fight with someone you really do not feel like talking face to face with them without pounding in their face. Depending on the degree of your problem with this person. So the easy thing to do is write them a note and then have one of your good friends deliver it to them. Definitely not a good idea. You know that your messenger will tell someone about your secret or problem. It is human nature for us to not be able to keep secret's to ourselves. Think of your secret as an idea, well when you get a bright, dumb, funny idea you feel that you have to share it with someone. True you do have to share your feelings (secret) but only with the person it is going to be directed at. Not your messenger who will tell someone and that someone will end up being a blabbermouth that tells your whole school.

Communication helps us get through our lives. Whether it's while you are at a red light and the guy behind you honks his horn to let you know the light has changed or while you are scolding your children in the Shane Company jewelry store for pressing their sweaty noses and dirty hands against the glass cases. One must use it to express to other people on how they are feeling and what they are talking about.

Valerie Card is sophomore at North Gwinnett High School where she enjoys playing tennis and the violin. When she is not doing endless amounts of homework and studying she prefers to read a book or just listen to music and chat on the phone with her friends.