When thinking about an interpersonal conflict to describe for this post, the first one that popped in my mind occurred a couple of years ago. It involved my sister and myself and, on hindsight, was probably the most frivolous argument we have ever had. The core of the disagreement was about what I was to wear for her best friend’s wedding reception. Believe me, I am well aware of how ridiculous this sounds.
Since she was close friend of the newlyweds, my sister felt that I should attend the reception in a sari (a traditional Indian outfit). However, as I had to attend another function prior to the event, I felt that wearing the Western clothes I was already in would be more practical. Unfortunately, what should have been a normal discussion quickly escalated into a shouting match leaving my sister exasperated and me, as usual, clueless.
The issue did not seem big to me. On the hand, my sister took it to heart and did not speak to me for a while (at least until I turned up at the venue wearing a sari). It was a period when she was rather busy with work and planning the wedding, leaving her quite stressed. I was simply confused and frustrated that she refused to see it from my point of view. So the questions to consider would be: How could we have handled the situation such that it wouldn’t have ended in a serious disagreement? What was I failing to see/understand?
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