The other day I was at a restaurant with my daughter on our weekly date when—as is often the case—we were approached by an elderly couple sitting near us. Smiling ear to ear, the lady put her hand on my daughter’s arm and said,
“How wonderful, when so many children don’t even have fathers.”
This was to my three year old.
Nice reminder to deliver the right message on the right plane. An important or beautiful message delivered at the wrong resolution can undermine or hurt both the message and the hearer.
Applies to meetings, technical presentations, blog posts, conversations over coffee, innocent children in public, etc.