Communication
Daisy Estevez
COM110/ 28JAN13
Activity #1
There are many situations in which communicating can be made easy or difficult. Its not communicating that seems the be the problem its usually the setting or the context that seems to bring miscommunication. When I was in the military, I was stationed in Guantanamo bay, Cuba as a prison guard. Thankfully I was only deployed there for about a year but during that time, successful communication either meant having a good day or a bad day at work. The prisoners sometimes didn’t care what was to be said, they weren’t having it. Noise was always a part of my conversation and because of it; my point almost never was made. When I would speak to a detainee, physical noise was always an issue since there were about a hundred more detainees behind him. Between security gates being opened and closed, prayer call and all the detainees in the rec yard it was always hard to hear. Some detainees also had physiological noise problems. Not all detainees were completely healthy in hearing or speaking. Hearing aids was not an uncommon among the detainees. One of the worst noises I had to deal with was psychological noise. The detainees were mostly Muslim so immediately without speaking to them there were challenges. I didn’t understand their culture and they hated mine. You never knew what preconceived ideas the detainees had roaming around their heads, but as my first class said, I had to keep my head on a swivel. The detainees weren’t out for any Americans best interest. If anything the detainees were always plotting to hurt the guard force. When it was time to restrain the detainees and move them from the rec yard to cell or vise versa, effective and passive aggressive communication was key. Letting the detainee know you had control over the situation without being inhumane was how every move was completed without injuries. It took a lot from the guards to get the job done considering all the emotionalism that went on between the
COM110/ 28JAN13
Activity #1
There are many situations in which communicating can be made easy or difficult. Its not communicating that seems the be the problem its usually the setting or the context that seems to bring miscommunication. When I was in the military, I was stationed in Guantanamo bay, Cuba as a prison guard. Thankfully I was only deployed there for about a year but during that time, successful communication either meant having a good day or a bad day at work. The prisoners sometimes didn’t care what was to be said, they weren’t having it. Noise was always a part of my conversation and because of it; my point almost never was made. When I would speak to a detainee, physical noise was always an issue since there were about a hundred more detainees behind him. Between security gates being opened and closed, prayer call and all the detainees in the rec yard it was always hard to hear. Some detainees also had physiological noise problems. Not all detainees were completely healthy in hearing or speaking. Hearing aids was not an uncommon among the detainees. One of the worst noises I had to deal with was psychological noise. The detainees were mostly Muslim so immediately without speaking to them there were challenges. I didn’t understand their culture and they hated mine. You never knew what preconceived ideas the detainees had roaming around their heads, but as my first class said, I had to keep my head on a swivel. The detainees weren’t out for any Americans best interest. If anything the detainees were always plotting to hurt the guard force. When it was time to restrain the detainees and move them from the rec yard to cell or vise versa, effective and passive aggressive communication was key. Letting the detainee know you had control over the situation without being inhumane was how every move was completed without injuries. It took a lot from the guards to get the job done considering all the emotionalism that went on between the