Might one inquire…?

By on

Human history abounds with intellectual giants. Always has and will continue to be. Of this I assure you.

They are all around us in our every day life. One is bound to come across them no matter where one is or which activity one is engaged in.

One needn’t look for them only in history books or in prestigious universities and institutions. It is absolute nonsense to assert that such masters of cogitation come around only once every so many years.

How dry our lives would be without such staggering mental prowess.

I shall provide a few examples to drive my point home nicely:

  1. Most doctors eventually enter the waiting room where a patient has spent what feels like much of his/her lifespan and the first sentence from the doctor usually is, “How are you doing today?“
  2. The best of friends or the most loving of parents will walk silently into a darkened room like they are on the final stage of a stealthy mission and quietly ask of an individual reclining on the bed, “Are you asleep?” I feel compelled to point out here that in asking so they are indeed expecting a prompt response…
  3. A prize-winning icebreaker question (accompanied by a sheepish smile) to ask inside a grocery store is, “Here to do grocery shopping eh?” As a pick-up line, this is an excellent way to ensure one’s solitude for a long time to come.
  4. Seeing one nurse a broken limb or a bruised head, a most endearing question is, “Does it hurt?“
  5. One often walks gratefully into a warm room shivering & brushing a significant amount of snow off one’s clothing only to be confronted by these welcoming words, “Is it cold out there?“
  6. Oddly enough, it is only when one is ravenously hungry that one tends to burn one’s tongue on a rather hot spoonful of soup only to be asked by a well wisher, “Is the soup hot?“
  7. One hastens to put all of one’s items from the grocery store cart onto the moving conveyor heading towards the all powerful check-out counter attendant only to be asked, “Are you ready to check out?“
  8. There are times when one step short of asking the Almighty for help is calling IT support for assistance with an insurmountable software problem like the all to familiar ‘blue screen of death’. This gem of a question is sure to come up within the first 10 seconds, “Have you tried to re-start your computer?” One must realize that the genius on the other side of that phone call is actually paid to do this job…
  9. Tell me you’ve never been asked this question by someone during the last leg of an exceptionally tough game between your favourite team/player and an annoying opposition that/who simply won’t lose quickly, “Is your team winning?” This someone asking you the question typically has been watching the game with you for a while…
  10. Someone deserving of a Nobel prize driving past a smouldering wreck of what used to be an automobile of some description tends to ask (often out loud to oneself I might add), “Oh I hope the driver is all right?“