#FamilyDisputes #DinnerTableConversations #PolarizedNation #arguments
A Kayak travel Web site ad, and a Sling TV ad, feature a family dispute at the dinner table, or living room.
It’s not just a friendly argument. One lady gets up and stomps out.
The disputes center on the good things about Kayak or Sling. The lady who stomps out isn’t just skeptical. She’s downright angry that the others at the table believe what they believe about the product.
Has it become normal not to have pleasant conversations at the family dinner table, or in a living room?
Does every family dinner or gathering turn into an argument, even over planning a trip, or how one watches TV?
A polarized nation tends to lean that way.
What’s interesting in these ads is that one side had no intention of getting into an argument, even though one of the people warned the other that the lady on the other side of the table might react the way she did.
There are many who long for the days decades ago when family dinners and gatherings were not just pleasant. They were the place everyone wanted to be.
If there were serious topics to be discussed, they were usually discussed calmly. Perhaps when parents discussed whoever a child was dating, or interested in, the discussions got testy and, in some cases, the child would stomp away mad.
Today’s dinner tables and gatherings are not always pleasant. They can be so unpleasant that some family members do all they can to avoid them.
It’s understandable to want to avoid unpleasant discussions so as not to spoil a good time.
The TV sit-com families of the 1950s and 1960s, though some still long for them, may not be the norm any longer.
The irony may be that those who still long for those old days might be the leading cause of disruptive families.
The question becomes whether it’s a good thing to “normalize” family arguments in ads.
It also begs discussion of whether family life ever will be “normal” again.
Family is the origin of community. But if just being part of a family causes so much grief and strife, why would one add that stress into his or her life?
You need to know where you came from, what your history is etc. You don’t necessarily have to feel obligated to interact with that family regularly.
If family life gives you pleasure, and is something very much to look forward to, by all means interact with your family as much as possible.
But if your family is not what you would like it to be, and you MUST interact, keep conversation topics to those that will not lead to an argument.
If you dine or gather together, know who is at the table, what topics might set them off and avoid them. If agreement on certain topics is impossible, don’t go there.
Families must learn to live and let live, and treat each other with respect. One way to do that is to avoid confrontational interactions whenever possible. It’s not necessarily a good model for young children to feature argumentative families in ads.
Peter