Interpersonal Communication
Monica Fisher
COMM102
February 26, 2013
Terrilyn Fleming
Interpersonal Communication Madea at Big Kmart Video
Interpersonal communication is the sending and receiving of information between two or more people. This video is a great example of interpersonal communication failure that had a negative outcome. Sometimes interpersonal communication can experience conflict because of conflict about the issue. This is normal and can constructive and healthy, but it can also be dysfunctional or lead to bad outcomes. The video took place in a Big Kmart parking lot and there was an interpersonal communication failure that resulted in a negative outcome. This is a fictional situation; however it could very easily become a real situation. It shows just how easily lack of proper communication with other people can get extremely ugly. It also shows the people what not to do in a situation like this one.
Madea was driving very slowly through the Big Kmart parking lot in her late model car trying to find an open parking spot to park in. There was a woman in a red sports car following very closely behind Madea’s late model car in the parking lot. She was honking and being very rude trying to make Madea go faster through the parking lot full of pedestrians, by yelling and telling her to move it. Madea finally noticed that a car was about to leave a parking space and decided to wait on the parking space. As soon as the car got out of the parking space, the woman in the little red sports car speeds around Madea’s late model car and steals the parking space from her. This really upset Madea and she approached the woman in her vehicle to let her know that she was waiting on the parking space. The woman says, “Yeah I saw you waiting and I took it, it is mine now.” Madea is drove beside the woman as she walked towards the entrance. She is still trying to get the woman to move her car. Madea follows the woman all the way to the entrance of the Big Kmart in her car. Madea is furious at the woman at that moment she saw a forklift. She gets the idea to move the woman’s vehicle herself.
As the woman is inside the Big Kmart shopping, she hears a beeping noise coming from the entrance of the store. She looks up and saw that her little red sports car was up on a forklift. She rushed outside and realizes that the woman she had the confrontation over the parking spot is the one behind it. This made her furious and she told her to put the car down right now. Madea looks at the woman with an evil grin and says, “OK.” The car was lifted all the way up into the air and Madea dropped the car on its side. The woman is boiling mad at this point and calls her police officer husband. During the conversation with her husband she calls Madea, Jemima the Hut. Madea told the woman to go ahead and call the police because she is not afraid of the police. Madea then tells her that if the police want her they have to come to her house and get her and then she gets in her car and leaves.
A communication barrier that existed in this situation is that the woman that took Madea’s parking space thought that she was superior to Madea. Cultural differences were also a barrier between the two women. There was also an attitudinal barrier that was present. The listening habits of Madea were fine. She listened to what the woman was saying and heard her loud and clear. Madea was being clear to the woman about wanting her to
