Interpersonal Communication Video
Cassidy Catania
COMM/102
May 15, 2013
Professor Whitesides

Interpersonal Communication Video
In this video, I felt that the nature if this video was very confrontational. I felt that the actor playing the bus driver came off confrontational but when you keep watching the video, you learn that the person getting on the bus has been stiffing him all week. The bus driver had enough and told the customer how he felt. When he did that, the customer reacted in a hostile manner. He could have been embarrassed that he was called out in form of people he does not know, or maybe he just did not have the money. If that were the case then he should not have come on the bus with a coffee. By him coming on the bus with a coffee only gave the driver more of a reason to get angry with him and to think that he is just not paying his bus fee to be rude.
The communication failure starts when the driver says hey this is the third time you stiffed me, the passenger starts arguing, and the driver starts to say I do not understand you, almost like making fun of his accent, which could have provoked the man. In addition, when the passenger says “what are you going to do about it” is another incident where there is communication failure. He is coming across to the driver as if he wants to fight now. It is starting to escalate to a physical matter.
In the end of the skit there was nothing resolved from either parties. It was a negative outcome, which led the driver to not be paid. I think that the put come could have been different if the driver approached him differently. I know that he was probably fed up with the man stiffing him all week, but the way he came at the passenger was uncalled for and it escalated into a bigger mess. He could have said he you know what man this is not the first time you have not paid me this week so I am going have to ask you to get off the bus or pay the full price. He did not need to get into the fact that he had a coffee and say that he could not understand the person’s accent. It only left room for argument and confrontation, which is exactly what happened.
The video clip that I shared with you was a non-fictional situation, but could have easily been a real life matter. The significance to the audience was one that I believe they could relate too. In the video you can hear them laughing due to the arguing going on, I personally think it is because the actors are not real and they know it is not going to escalate to someone getting hurt, or something serious.
The communication barriers that existed in this clip were very clear. They had no real communication form the beginning of the conversation. Its stated off as a confrontation and ended up with no resolution. Instead of the driver calmly explaining that he needs to pay his fee in full he jumps at him and starts questioning him being able to buy a coffee and starts getting off course of what the real problem is. If the passenger truly could not afford to pay the fee, he should have said you know what I am very sorry but u does not have the full amount and I really need to get to where I am going. If he would have approached it that way maybe the diver would have felt some sympathy for the man and let him ride along anyway. Another problem I saw here was that it wasn’t the passengers first time not paying, so I see where the drivers anger is coming from, this didn’t just happen one time, it’s been going on all week I would get angry too and would possibly snap like the driver did.
The listening habits of both parties were nonexistent and played a huge role in why the situation turned out the way it did. If they would have had better communication they could have possibly came up with a solution to their problem. Maybe the passenger is going though some financial difficulties and he just needed to get to work. The driver could have felt bad for him and said ill cover you and you can pay me back when you are paid. It could have gone many different ways if they would have started out the situation in a calmer manor and explained their situations rather than confront each other the way they did.
Empathic listening may have helped the situation tremendously as I said earlier. If the driver would have heard the passenger out and kind of got an idea of where he was coming from, and that he could not afford his buss fee, he might have had some empathy for him and they could have worked something out. That was not the case though. It went into a hostile confrontational conversation right form the beginning. It was something that could have for sure been avoided, and was unnecessary.
In this clip, I definitely saw some intercultural barriers. I noticed it when the driver was saying to the passenger “I can’t even understand what you’re saying”. If I were the passenger I would have taken it as an insult, and it would have provoked me to be more argumentative. It seems that the conversation did get more heated after that comment so maybe it was something that pushed his buttons and made him more confrontational. It was almost like a slap in the face to point out that fact that he was obviously not form America and was different. It was not ok for the driver to provoke him by using his race against him.