Tuesday, March 10, 2009

(Ms.)communication!

The video below has been posted because there is a lot more at play than the MSNBC report suggests. After listening to the report, a person can laugh it off, as the news anchors did, or examine the situation from a Human Communication standpoint.

Let's dig a bit deeper. Latreasa Goodman, the wronged woman, was attempting to garner some type of justice for herself. After all, the manager informed her that she could not receive a full refund of her money. (In actuality, this is where the news story lies.) Why would she be told that she can't get her money if she doesn't want anything from the menu? But, this obvious injustice is not discussed at all. In fact, Latreasa Goodman must show up in court for the inappropriate use of 911...but no mention of the manager who unjustly refuses the refund. This doesn't make sense, does it?

After being told by the manager that she could not get a refund, Ms. Goodman doesn't use irate [ghetto] behavior to correct the situation. No, she chooses to call for law enforcement. She incorrectly calls "911" when she should have used a non-emergency number. (After three calls I would think that the 911 operators would have provided a non-emergency number.) This is an obvious instance where Latreasa Goodman did not know HOW to garner justice, but I give her credit for choosing a civil way to go about correcting the matter as opposed to using disorderly conduct.

Check it out:



What you think?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are so right!
All last week I heard little news reports about this woman, but I didn't pay too much attention. Listening to the 911 call, the woman seemed very calm and she was clearly asking for police. What is wrong with that? If it was the wrong number to call then the 911 operator should have transferred her to the right point of contact.

We don't know the whole story. I am sure that the McDonald's employee was being rude which is probably why she called for the police. We are taught as children if you need help to dial 9-1-1...and that is what she did.

hargrovehottie said...

This woman is cleary mentally ill (clinically or otherwise). The 911 operators were keeping her on the phone until the police could be dispatched and arrive at the location before she harmed herself or others. True enough her money should have been refunded, but I don't see McDonald's management refusing to refund $3 and instead opting to have the police come to the location. There is obviously more to the story.