Can you hear me now?

The older I get, the more I can think about the mistakes, small and big, that I have made.  "How could I have been that stupid?" I often ask myself.  But, hey, stupid is as stupid does!

Thanks to the years, I have also had my share of marveling at how much the folks across from me may have completely misunderstood me.

I bet it happens in anybody's life.  Students misunderstand us. So do children, parents, spouses, gardeners.  Heck, even dogs misunderstand us!  Life is full of misunderstandings. We try to clear up things.

But then, sometimes, there might be people who consistently misunderstand us.  It is almost as if they are wired that way.  Like they live in a bizarro world.  You say up, and they misunderstand that you said down. Left becomes right, and then you tell them, "no, the other left!"

In such situations, perhaps you think to yourselves "how the hell do you manage to misunderstand me this much every single time?"

Or, maybe, sometimes you just feel like yelling at the other person for yet again misunderstanding your words or actions.

There you are with your nostrils flaring, blood flowing at increased speeds. You can actually feel the global warming.  You have been there, right?

So the next time you reach that explosive stage, take a deep breath.

And then, lean on the following poem.  

Wrong

I wish to be misunderstood;
that is,
to be understood from your perspective.

From Bill Knott’s The Unsubscriber HT

Maybe you can even recite this poem at the height (depth?) of the misunderstanding. Recite aloud. With dramatic pauses.

If you do that, and if you live to report that to me, please update me :)