There's a knot in the rope.

My family has always had a no-holds-barred, cut-to-the-chase, tell-it-as-it-is, and no lingering resentment approach to honesty. We're brutal. "Here's how it is. Accept it and move forward." Give or take -- it's how we communicate.

Talking with my sister today after church I realized the strangeness of this. There are a lot of people who handle the honesty -- even small truths -- with kid gloves. Who hide their opinions in a fog of politeness so thick you're not even sure they have an opinion.

When situations arise where there is disagreement or conflict some people even choose to walk away rather than say anything. (Mind you, there are times when that is the wiser course -- but not always).

I think there are maybe three basic approaches... There's a knot in the rope. A problem.

One person will say "What rope?" And walk away without doing anything.

Another person says "Hey, look a knot. Let's pick at this knot, and finesse it, and try to see if it will come untied." It may take days, and they might curse a bit, and sometimes they untie it but sometimes they just make a bigger knot.

Then a third sort of person says "We could just cut the rope."

And my family? We're the ones asking "Hey, isn't that a machete?" Whack. "What's next?"