Grey's Anatomy is a popular television show which depicts the life of many surgeons working at a hospital in Seattle. When in the profession of surgical medicine, miscommunications can lead to errors with some terrible mistakes. Some errors of communication can be humorous though, especially when lives aren't at stake.
One episode of Grey's Anatomy portrays how miscommunication can spiral. In this episode, 2 characters names Callie and Izzie have a misunderstanding within their communication process. Both individuals are surgeons who work at Seattle Grace hospital which is a teaching hospital for students. Callie specializes in orthopedic surgery and is a 'hardcore' surgeon who also happens to be Izzie's superior. Izzie has a bubbly personality
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She approaches Izzie and provides Izzie with the message to meet her in the cafeteria at noon. Verbally, Callie has communicated with Izzie face-to-face that she wants to meet in the cafeteria at a specific time; nonverbally, Callie has shown Izzie that she is serious, angry, and unfriendly at this time. Izzie was the receiver of Callie's message who decoded the message incorrectly. Izzie became visibly stressed by Callie's message because she automatically jumps to the conclusion that Callie has invited her to the cafeteria to physically fight her. Certain internal factors lead Izzie to her assumption, including the bias on Callie's personality; she is known as a direct, strong woman who is a 'hardcore' surgeon that also breaks bones professionally. Also, internally, the stress of the exposure of her involvement in an affair made her unable to think clearly about the situation. Some external contributing factors that helped lead Izzie to her assumption include Izzie's students' whispering within earshot about how Callie is going to 'kick Izzie's ass', which contributed an outside influence of thoughts. Also, Callie is visibly angry and stern with Izzie which factors into Izzie's