Opinion – Darrell Berkheimer: Aggravating pet peeves | Community … – The Union

Darrell Berkheimer

Darrell Berkheimer
We all have pet peeves. And mine are particularly annoying to someone who earned his living through communications. But I believe the peeves I’m listing also are annoying to many others.
And what better time to seek changes than at the beginning of a new year.
‘You know’
Why is it so many talking heads on TV – educated professionals considered experts in their field – can’t put a string of sentences together without saying “you know” a dozen times or more.
If you’re getting bored waiting to hear something new and significant, start counting all the “you know” interjections. You might be amazed at how quickly you approach double digits – sometimes with the response to only one question.
And I frequently think: “Well, if we knew, we wouldn’t have asked you.”
Apparently, in the broadcast industry, the slightest pause can be a signal to interrupt – even when the speaker merely paused to consider appropriate wording. It appears the industry is more concerned over a moment of silence than poor speaking.
So I must ask: Why is there so little emphasis on good public speaking?
Don’t they know better than to say “whether or not?” Or “each and every?”
Does something come faster by saying “upcoming” rather than just plain coming?
Those who appear frequently in the broadcast media should be more cognizant of their grammar abuses. It behooves them to set a better speech example rather than fostering an increase in incorrect mannerisms.
For ‘better service’
Have you ever received a notice from a financial institution or company telling you it is changing its procedures “to better serve your needs?”
But you can tell that the company is making changes for its convenience, and not for you. Particularly when you quickly learn the company wants you to make changes to accommodate its new procedures.
For my bank, I recently had to change my sign-in name, password and PIN number – creating new memory issues. But we’re told the change is “to better serve” its customers.
Yeah, and they have ocean-front property in Arizona available, too.
Another example is the unwanted changes we face when one of our internet programs alters procedures. I’m still cussing the extra moves I must make to-and-from the tool bar as a result of a Windows word processing change.
And how I would love to wring the neck of the computer guru who put the attach symbol next to the “Send” box. Too often I’ve sent a message by mistake – without the attachment.
That master programmer definitely deserves some time on the medieval rack.
Incoherent messages
In today’s business world, it’s so difficult to get a real person on the phone who we can understand. Often we receive recorded messages by someone who talks fast, with so little volume, or with an accent – leaving us unsure what they’re saying.
And when we can understand the better-prepared recorded greetings, we’re told to push number 1 for a popular category, 2 for a different subject, or 3, 4 or 5 for other issues.
But if none of those numbers relate to why we are calling, we might be told to push 9 or 0 to talk to a representative, only to receive another series of numbers on more precise issues.
Then, finally, if we’re very lucky – very, very lucky – we might get to talk to a person, rather than being told to leave a message for a callback.
And many times it is a young, fast-talking someone who fails to pronounce words succinctly with enough volume – or slowly enough so we can understand.
Everyone seems to be in such a hurry – especially when leaving a quick message and callback number on your cell or home phone – a message that you can’t fully understand.
My spouse and I frequently replay messages 3 or 4 times in an effort to learn who, or which agency, left the message. Sometimes we never can understand who it was – and then we’re guessing how important the call might have been.
I’ve written something similar to this in the past, and received numerous messages of agreement. But obviously, not nearly enough people have received the complaint, or they simply ignored it, and neglected to improve their diction, or slow their speech.
And finally, I get disgusted with magazines and newspapers that publish the initials of an agency or organization at the beginning of a news or sports story without immediately listing the full name of the agency.
We should not have to hunt through the story to find the full name. And sometimes the full name is never listed.
Each of these issues present sad commentaries on today’s communications.
Darrell Berkheimer, who lives in Grass Valley, is a frequent contributor to The Union. He has nine books available through Amazon and at SPD. His two Essays books include nearly 120 columns published by The Union, plus a variety of travel and photo essays. Contact him at [email protected].
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