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The following conversation takes place between a mother and her 14-year-old daughter while on a drive to visit relatives. The CD player in the car doesn't work. The daughter is rapidly surfing the radio stations, which is irritating her mother.
Mother: Stop it. Pick a station and stay with it.
Daughter: Commercials bore me. How can you stand to listen to them?
Mother: You don't listen long enough to know if it's a commercial or not. Why don't we try news or something?
Daughter: Oh, this is my favorite song.
Mother: No. I don't like rap. Switch the station.
Daughter: This isn't rap, Mom.
Mother: They are talking and not singing, and that's what I call rap. Now switch.
Daughter: You said not to switch station, and now when I want to listen to a song, you want me to switch. Make up your mind.
Mother: Don't talk back to me. We always listen to your station. When was the last time you asked me what I wanted to listen to? Rap is disrespectful.
Daughter: You never like any of my songs. What's wrong with rap?
Mother: I want you to change to another station.
Daughter: Jeezze! Okay, here's country. Are you satisfied?
Mother: It's better than rap.
Daughter: (Exasperated) IT WASN"T RAP.
(A country ballad comes on. A narrator says the first few lines of the song before singing.)
Daughter: He is talking, not singing. Must be rap.
Mother: Your smart mouth is going to get you in trouble, young lady.
Daughter: I'm just saying that he is talking, not singing, and that's your definition of rap. But you never listen to me.
Mother: Okay, no more radio. (Mother turns of the radio and both sit in silence for the rest of the trip.)
Join the online discussion by visiting the Message Board: What were some of the obstacles to effective listening created by generational differences? How do cultural or gender differences create listening obstacles?