WHY? WHY NOT?

“Hurry, Child, ask your questions. Tomorrow, there may be no answers.”
“Hurry, Child find your answers. Tomorrow, there may be no questions.” (THE CAT WHO SMELLED A RAT, Lillian Jackson Braun)

When I was a little girl, “Why?” was my favorite word, and I assume, that for a very short period of time, it was considered charming by my parents. Dad always had patience and provided long, convoluted answers.  Mom’s solution was, “Because I said so!”

When I got older, and went to school, my teacher’s favorite answer to, “Why?” was, “Look it up.” I think it was because she didn’t know the answers herself, because she would often say, “What did you find out?” As I matured, I drove my algebra teacher crazy with my, “Why?” And, he finally said, “You don’t have to know, “Why,” you just have to solve the problem.

Every good attorney knows that you don’t ask a question when you don’t already know the answer, such as—-“Are you still  embezzling money from your firm?” That’s a tough one to answer other than, “Why are you asking?”

The most frustrating ping-pong answer to,“Why?” is “Why Not?” “Why did you do that?” “Why Not?”

The comic, Steven Wright knows how to ask questions such as—-“What’s another word for thesaurus?” Or, “If you didn’t know who I was, would you know if I’m a stranger?”

I once drove my piano teacher into the bathroom when I asked, “Was Beethoven’s music so loud because he was deaf? Or, was he deaf, because his music was so loud?” I thought about that question a lot, because I hadn’t practiced. She didn’t have much of a sense of humor, but she sure could throw up. Maybe it was a pregnant pause, or maybe she was pregnant. I never did ask my parents, “Why isn’t she giving lessons anymore?”

Of course, when a child asks, “Where do babies come from?” “Ask your Father” is always a good answer.

In life, it is vital to find honest answers to your questions. That will hold you in good stead when you need to take a position on an important issue. “Why?”Because being wishy-washy just doesn’t cut it, because, these days, if you don’t stand for something, you just might fall for anything.

Esther Blumenfeld (“Okay, So what’s the speed of dark?”) Steven Wright