How to Deal with Conflict

Uh oh!

I better stop here!

I do not have the answers for dealing with conflicts!

But here's what I know:

There are two kinds of conflict:

1. Conflicts where you need or want to have a good relationship with the person afterwards.
2. Conflicts where you don't need or want to have a good relationship later.

Maybe all conflicts should be in group number one.

I don't know.

I think on Planet Perfect, all conflicts are in group number one.

But here on Earth, we can put some in group number two.

Such as:

- Dealing with health insurance companies
- Dealing with car dealerships
- Dealing with restaurants
- Dealing with businesses of various kinds

Yes, of course, it is good to have a good relationship with people. But if you have a terrible experience at a restaurant, you can go to another restaurant. You do not need to go back to the bad restaurant. But maybe you do not want to pay for the terrible, terrible food at the bad restaurant. It is okay if the restaurant does not like you when you complain.

For group number one, where we need or want to keep a good relationship, we can put:

- Neighbors
- Family
- Friends
- Co-workers
- Bosses

If we don't maintain a good relationship with these people, our lives can be very difficult for us.

Why do we need to think about this?

Because we use different language with these different groups.

With everyone we can try to be polite.

With everyone we can try to be clear.

But if we must, we can take off the gloves with group number two.

What does take off the gloves mean?

It means get rough, get tough, get in the ring and fight!

So it is good, if we are trying to use English in a conflict in the US, to know what group we are dealing with.

When we know the group, we know what English to use.

About that, in a minute.