I have been lovely accused of presenting TMI, Too Much Information. Actually in my case it is TMW, Too Many Words. With me this is especially true with spoken words and emails. Confusion with too many words with the spoken word can be corrected with some personal discussion and clarification. Confusion by too many words in email is hard to clear up. Emails, without the spoken word are easy to misunderstand and clarifying emails with more words only leads to more confusion.

Being a TMW person in emails I tried to clarify past misunderstandings by personal conversations. However, some people these days, do not want to talk, just write more emails or ignore you. I find engaging in an ‘email war of words’ as some call it, is fruitless. But when I tried to talk with persons personally they refuse.

Interesting enough I do not have this problem of communication on this web site with postings. That might be because they are personal reflections like the Diary of the Worm or researched articles like the The Militarization of Catholic Jesuit University. Those who read the reflections or research project like it or ignore it. Part of this might be that I try to tell my store via pictures that are worth a “thousand words’.

In the 60’s, before the days of email, when people spoke by word or action something controversial, like the Civil Right open housing marches from the north side to south side or the Milwaukee 14 burning of draft records, people responded by loving or hating the words and action. We were stoned crossing the 16th street viaduct in the open housing marches or praised and honored. The same goes for the Milwaukee 14 action in 1968. Now we can stand in the Lobby of the Library with a banner saying: “Marquette Teaches Killing*” and be ignored by the majority of students and faculty. There is not much loving or hating these days, just ignoring.

I remember my poor mother being caught in the middle of these love/hate situations after my participation in the Milwaukee 14 action. She loved me, her son, but was embarrassed by me and even hated going to the grocery store where she would hear disparaging remarks about the Milwaukee 14.

The lesson I learned from being a TMW person is to cut back in spoken word and especially in email communications and other forms of internet social networking. Most of our nonviolent actions at Marquette are done in silence these days. The signs and flyers give our message and if people want to talk we are open.

Words, and especially too many words, can never convince a person who does not want to hear the message. In fact they often harden the hard of heart. Pictures and silent actions are better ways to communicate than too many words.

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