Scenario:

Person A is busy at work, typing away on their computer or reading over some documentation. Person B walks into Person A’s office and immediately asks, “Where is person C?” You recognize this don’t you? It happens all the time.

Analysis:

There are so many things wrong with this, I don’t know where to start.

  • Whatever happened to “Hello, how are you doing today?”
  • The way the question is asked assumes that Person A knows where Person C is located. Person A may have no idea. Maybe a better way to ask is, “Hello Person A, do you know where Person B is?”
  • Person A may be in the middle of something important. Abruptly stopping them is disrespectful, inconsiderate, and may make them lose concentration.
  • This list goes one…

Conclusion:

Be considerate