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ONE mistake we all make time and time again is measuring someone’s abilities against our own – particularly the ability to communicate. This is never more prevalent than when it comes to getting behind the wheel of our cars. On Tuesday night I was picking up a colleague from The Brehon Hotel. There was a space available in front of the hotel. I drove straight into the available space. There was an unoccupied car parked in front and as I pulled in another car parked to the other side.

The driver and passenger of the unoccupied car returned. I switched off my lights and reversed back to aid their exit. The car parked to their rear also reversed to give room. At this point the driver started flashing their lights and I could barely made out a silhouette in the passenger seat waving frantically.

I am greatly amused by this stupidity. Hand gestures are redundant when you are shining a bright light in the face of the intended recipient of your hand gestures. This is the first clue that these people don’t understand basic communication skills.

Eventually, to my amusement, flashing lights clearly wasn’t communicating their request (or maybe it was my inability to understand “Morse Code”!) so the driver eventually felt the need to communicate by exiting their car and delivering the request in person to give them more space. However, I had done this prior to the request – so much so, my parking sensor was constant. I could move back no further.

Moments later my colleague’s arrival prompted our departure. With no manoeuvring required, we drove straight out of the space – clearly demonstrating the ample space available. As I moved away from the blinding lights of their car a cowardly Neanderthal male figure – the occupant of the passenger seat – came into focus offering obscene middle finger hand gestures.

I drove off amused at the limited skill by both occupants to communicate a simple request – a request, if delivered in the appropriate manner, I would have duly executed.

On my return to the hotel later that evening, I discovered that the unoccupied car had obscured a “no parking” sign – clearly indicating that neither one of us should have parked where we did. In my defence, I couldn’t see the sign but it clearly demonstrates the knock-on effect of people not understanding basic communication skills.