Before You Hit Send

When will we learn?

With every sunrise we are given plenty of new examples of people "Hitting Send" and soon regretting it. Social media means what it says: it is social! Our methods of communication today allow for something to potentially be broadcast to everyone from Pekin, Illinois to Peking, China. But it's not only Twitter fanatics who can find themselves in trouble. Every single one of us is capable of falling prey to this growing plague.

Every day we have the potential of both verbal and written blunders. It makes no difference if we are talking to a stranger over a meat counter, chatting on a cell phone with our mother, or sending an e-mail to a coworker; we can and do miscommunicate and people can and do get the wrong idea. When we don't pause long enough to think before speaking or writing, it commonly yields a misunderstanding and leads to a clash. We end up being the person who said, "You know that sphere of the brain that stops you...