Plain Speak

“I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”

As we near Election Day on November 4th, we must try to keep things in perspective. I think the above quote does that very eloquently.

This piece of wisdom was lovingly done in counted cross-stitch, framed and presented to my father many years ago by a dear family friend named Eleanor.
She was poking Dad in the ribs. Because he was brilliant in so many areas, he could speak quite knowingly on many subjects. He was most always clear and understandable. If you didn’t understand what he was saying he would take the time to re-explain it until you got it. He was patient in that regard.

Dad could get frustrated with people who were not concise, who spoke as if they knew about something when they didn’t, or who deliberately muddied the waters with verbosity. He liked plain speak. If you said what you meant, if you said it clearly, if you said it honestly, truthfully, you had his respect. It didn’t matter who you were; a man with little education like Old Man Heber Thomas or his good friend, Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, he treated all fairly who spoke fairly.

Dad was pretty much all about communicating. If you look at the history of the major jobs and hobbies he had in his life it becomes obvious. He was the SONAR man on subs before World War II, he built RADAR stations during the war, and he was the chief engineer for both a TV and a radio station. He was a ham radio operator, liked reading the dictionary and doing the London Times crossword puzzle in ink.

Let’s read that quote again.

“I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”

I haven’t heard a politician yet who didn’t speak just like that.

Say what?