Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 22, Number 6, 1 June 2005 — Send, receive and acknowledge-- that's communication [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Send, receive and acknowledge--that's communication

Aloha mai kākou. Webster's Dictionary defines "communication" as: 1) an act or instance of transmitting; 2) a verbal or written massage; 3) a process by whieh information is exchanged between individuals though a eommon system of symbols, signs, or behavior, and; 4) personal rapport. Thus it requires a sender, a receiver and acknowledgement for "eommunieation" to take plaee. Communication plays such a vital role in our lives. When important issues arise, it is eommon to find that, when individuals are informed and educated, the possibility of a clearer understanding ean be achieved through eommunication. But what has happened to the simpler methods of communication? Have you taken notice of how mueh technology rules our daily lives as it relates to communication? Back in the days, way before cellular phones, eommunication was just as important as it is today. The exception in our world today is that we ean simply piek up

our cellular phone and immediately attempt to communicate with another in the hlink of an eye. If you don't have a eell phone, one may ask, "Why don't you have a eell phone?" and then follow that question with, "How do I get a hold of you?" The invention of eell phones ean be seen as both positive and negative. It ean be considered positive to always have a method of communication available at one's fingertips. Yet, it is also negative because having that contraption glued to your ear causes distractions, among other things. Along with wireless phones, we also should think about how telephone answering machines, caller identification and voicemail has changed how we do things. A short while ago, if no one answered the phone you would assume that they were not home and you could try calling again later. Today, technology allows for us to eheek out the number of the person calling and choose to answer the eall or let it go to voicemail. Screening calls ean be wearisome if

you get a lot of calls. I know there are some of you out there who don't live by the "ring of a eell phone." Consider yourselves somewhat lucky. Sometimes the convenience of technology ean be quite annoying and frustrating. Yes, as a eell phone user, we do have the ehoiee to turn our ringers to silent mode, but we still are connected. If we turn our phones off completely, we could get paranoid about missing an important eall. That then begs the question, "How important are all those calls?" Would you be lost without your eell phone? Try it out for one day, turn off your cellular phone and answering maehine. See what life was like before you got caught up in the fast-paced world of technology. In fact, if possible, walk over to talk to someone in person, rather than calling them on the phone. Utilize some face-to-face eommunieation with a co-worker, family member or friend. You might be pleasantly surprised by the reaction you get from others when you communicate with them

in person. Communication is both the easiest and the hardest thing to do. Many people avoid communication because they don't want confrontation. Communication is one of those things that if you don't try it, you won't know if you like it. You don't have mueh to lose by communicating with others involved in your home and work environment. In fact, communication gives everyone the opportunity to be on the "same page." Try it out and see where it takes you ! Remember, no communication is complete until it is sent, received and, most importantly acknowledged! As always, my staff and I invite your comments on the above or any other concerns within our purview. My OHA access numbers are: phone 594-1854, fax 594-0210 and e-mail address dantec@oha.org. A hui hou, mālama pono.

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Dante Carpenter

Trustee, O'ahu