The Miscommunication Situation

         
This is story of an event that occurred in my life.  It is one - hundred percent true and real.  Read it while I weep.


Dane

_________
          Not long ago, I found out that I completely messed up years of tradition. It all started
when my friend, Mr. Steve, asked me to give a talk at a special conference. I told him I would,
but that I did not know what to say. To my relief, he said there was a script I could read. Now at
that time, I thought a script was an outline of what I needed to say about my own life.
Unfortunately, I received the script too late, which ended being my downfall.
The day of the conference arrived and with it the mistake of the ages. When Mr. Steve
and I arrived at the conference, I still had not received a script. Mr. Steve and I decided to ask
around in hopes of finding someone with an extra copy. After a little while of searching we
found a nice lady who was glad to give us one. I got the chance to look it over while other
people were giving their talks. It said, “Hi! My name is Robert…” I thought that was really
strange, especially since my name is definitely not “Robert.” I decided to make some changes to
the script so that it would make more sense to me. I had no idea of the affect my talk would have
on the event.
          The other speakers had finished their talks, it was my turn now. To my surprise the lady
in charge introduced me to the audience before I spoke. She said, “Now everyone! I would like
to introduce my friend, Robert!” They had got my name wrong again! I made sure they knew
my name was not Robert. I started my talk by saying, “Hello. My name isn’t really Robert, I’m
Dane.” In addition, I read that “Robert” was fifteen years old. At that time I was only thirteen,
so I changed that as well and told them my real age, not “Roberts.” Throughout the entire talk, I
changed things on the script where I saw significant differences. There were moments when people laughed at me, but I felt that overall it went well. After I finished my talk and went
home, I discovered my enormous blunder.
          When I arrived back home I told my mom everything that transpired at the event. When I
came to the part about me telling everyone my real name and the changes I made to the script,
she started laughing and laughing. When she got a hold of herself, she said, “Dane! You
weren’t supposed to change anything. It was all a skit, and you played the part of a boy named
Robert.” At that moment I had a total understanding. I knew right then why it was important
that I receive a script. I also understood why everyone laughed when I changed things on the
script. I was aghast! I have no idea how many years they had been performing that skit, but my
performance had certainly made it unique for that year.