135. Misunderstood Communication

The other day, I attended a symphonic orchestra performance with my nephew at The Esplanade.

We arrived 20 minutes prior to the commencement and as my nephew showed our e-tickets on his phone to one of the ushers upon reaching the second floor, where the concert hall was. I asked the second staff standing right besides the first, "May I know where's the nearest washroom?" The woman asked where my seat was and as I thought she had misheard me - perhaps thinking I was trying to find my seat - I repeated my question earnestly. 

With a straight face, she asked once again where my seat was. This time, as I was sure I had not misheard, I pointed to the e-tickets being scanned and reiterated that I was searching for closest washroom. I was not sure why the information seemed so elusive. 

At that moment, her colleague read out our seats number. The expressionless woman looked straight at me and stated, (dare I say with a slight chiding tone), "The toilet is straight down on your left. That's why I needed to know your seat number."

Honestly, I did not get what the co-relation was. 

Later, as I reflected on this interaction while heading towards the toilet, I figured as there were other washrooms along the way, the usher was trying to point me to one which would be closest to where my seat was. While I conceded the good intention, she had not understood that I needed to use the washroom at the soonest possible. Quite likely, she had assumed I wanted to know where the nearest washroom was from my seat in the hall. 

Perhaps if I had said right at the beginning, "May I know where's the nearest washroom from here?"  or "I need to use the washroom urgently. Where's the nearest one at?" both parties would have saved some time and repetition. 


Reflective thoughts: Think of a simple request you would sometimes have in a restaurant or hotel setting. Think of how this may be misinterpreted by the service team and with each possible misinterpretation (try to list as many as you can), revise your request so that it leaves no room for any possible misunderstanding. 


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