Words Have Power

My wife worked in advertising sales at the Commercial Appeal in Memphis when we were newlyweds. Her co-workers were a playful bunch. One day she returned from lunch with a message to call a Mr. Mike Rowave. She returned the call and was especially careful to enunciate the unusual name properly. The guy on the other end of the line informed her that she had called an appliance store and suggested that someone might be playing a joke on her.

There were two particularly unintentional and funny typos in classified advertisements that made it in the paper. One ad was supposed to read, “We need ten aggressive and ambitious salespeople.” What was printed, however, was, “We need ten aggressive and vicious salespeople.” The one who placed the ad was not amused. He remarked that you would not believe the crazies who had been calling in applying for the job.

The second ad was a restaurant extolling all you can eat crab legs for $9.99. Alas, one letter can indeed make a difference. The “b” in crab was replaced by a “p.” I think the newspaper offered to run the ad again for free.

Goodness knows, we all make verbal mistakes from time to time. As a public speaker, I am all too aware of the liability of loose lips. But we can also make mistakes, not by what we say, but by what we don’t say. Every one of us possesses the amazing ability to bless others with our words, but the words have to be spoken.

You can pick up the phone or send a text right now. A thank you to the principal at your kid’s school, a quick apology to your sister-in-law, expressed appreciation to a co-worker for a job well-done, a check-in with your uncle in the nursing home, a “hang in there” to a friend with Covid, or an “I was thinking of you today” to—well, that list for most of us is long indeed.

Your words have power. Immense power. But they have to be spoken.