Another lady I help out is, Marylin, we both attend the same church. She is in her late 80s and lives alone like Shirley. Marylin can not drive any longer and needs help getting around. I usually take her to the grocery store, drug store, or the doctors. I think Marylin is the cutest old lady ever. She is only about 5 feet tall and spunky. We get along really well.
One day I took her to the eye doctors to get new glasses, because she needed a new perscription. While we were waiting for them to get the glasses made, we sat where people select the frames they want. A woman in her 20s was selecting glasses Marylin pointed her out to me. And stated, loudly enough for the woman to hear her, "Look at all her tattoos". Surprisingly enough Marylin's tone was not one of judgement, but on of interest. I think her tone was the important thing. If she had sounded judegmental I think it may have really upset the girl. Instead, the woman ended up coming up to us and showing us her tattoos and telling us about them. Marylin shattered my preconceived perception on the elderly. I was completely shocked to find that Marylin thinks tattoos are cool I thought that she would look down upon tattoos something the younger generation like and think are cool. After I told her I was getting one, she did not look at me any differently than before. Marylin also showed me how important tone is especially if you are talking about someone you do not know. Tone in my opinion is the most important part of oral communication, because it shapes the reactions you get from people.
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