I am here due to a strange behaviour in Button_Click event. The code is attached. The issue is the first StripStatus message is never displayed. any ideas as to why? private void FireBtn_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) { // Control local controls for launching attack AwayTableLayoutPanel.Enabled = false; AwayCancelBtn.Enabled = false; FireBtn.Enabled = false; ////////////// Below statusBar message is never displayed but the folowing sound clip is. GameToolStripStatusLabel.Text = "(Home vs. Away)(Attack Coordinate: (" + GameModel.alphaCoords(GridLock.Column) + "," + GridLock.Row + "))(Action: Fire)"; //////////////////////////////////////////// if (audio) { SoundPlayer fire = new SoundPlayer(Properties.Resources.fire); fire.PlaySync(); fire.Dispose(); } // compile attack message XmlSerializer s; StringWriter w; FireGridUnit fireGridUnit = new FireGridUnit(); fireGridUnit.FireGridLocation = GridLock; s = new XmlSerializer(typeof(FireGridUnit)); w = new StringWriter(); s.Serialize(w, fireGridUnit); ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // send attack message GameMessage GameMessageAction = new GameMessage(); GameMessageAction.gameAction = GameMessage.GameAction.FireAttack; GameMessageAction.statusMessage = w.ToString(); s = new XmlSerializer(typeof(GameMessage)); w = new StringWriter(); s.Serialize(w, GameMessageAction); SendGameMsg(w.ToString()); GameToolStripStatusLabel.Text = "(Home vs. Away)(Attack Coordinate: (" + GameModel.alphaCoords(GridLock.Column) + "," + GridLock.Row + "))(Action: Awaiting Fire Result)"; } EDIT: if I put in a messageBox after the StripStatus message the status is updated.