Last week, Gulley attended a Kindergarten roundup thing since her oldest son will be starting Kindergarten in the fall. It was basically an orientation type thing. My question is do they call it a roundup because we’re in Texas or is it called a roundup in places like Connecticut also?
My guess is no.
Anyway, the evening consisted of parents and their kids meeting all the teachers, seeing the school, and touring the individual classrooms. At the beginning or maybe it was at the end, (details! I’m all about details!) there was a question and answer portion to the roundup.
As Gulley was telling me about the question and answer session, she mentioned that she didn’t ask any questions because she realizes that she has a tendency to zone out and there is a good chance that whatever question she decided to ask, would have already been answered.
This led to a discussion of our shared fear of asking questions out loud in group settings, because here’s a little information that may save some of y’all time and embarrassment. Remember how growing up teachers and parents would always say things like, “There is no such thing as a dumb question”?
They lied.
Yes, Virginia. There is such thing as a dumb question.
If you don’t believe me, then may I tell you how sorry I am that the batteries in your hearing aid have given out.
I will be the first to admit that I tend to run out of patience for people who feel the need to ask all the questions with all of their what ifs and why nots, but lets be honest, if you’ve stopped for dinner at Church’s Fried Chicken, does it really matter what kind of oil the chicken is fried in?
The kind that clogs your arteries and will cause you to die, unless counterbalanced with some type of cholesterol medication.
When I call my company’s tech support line and tell the guy on the line that my computer died, does he really need to ask me if I’ve tried to turn it back on?
Apparently so.
And don’t get me wrong. I’m guilty. I have been known to ask the dumb question. Repeatedly. In fact, while Gulley and I were having our discussion about our fear of public questions, I told her a story that made me a legend in my high school youth group.
My sophomore year in high school, my youth group was having a lock in. For those of y’all who may not know (and now are afraid to ask) a lock in is basically an all night slumber party but without the sleep. Ours usually consisted of all night basketball games, hide and seek, and movies like Rocky III being shown in various Sunday School classrooms.
And drama. Lots of drama. You can’t lock in 25 high school girls and 15 high school boys without dealing with the emotional ramifications of all the relationship crises that can occur in a 12 hour time period.
Anyway, the Wednesday night before the lock in, our youth group leader was giving us information about the event. He said, “If your name starts with A-M, bring Cokes and if your name starts with N-Z, bring a bag of chips.” My hand shot up like a canon and I asked, “Is that first name or last?”
Now y’all may be thinking that’s not a dumb question and no, no it is not. Unless, your first name and last name start with the same letter which, of course, mine did. A fact that our youth leader quickly pointed out to me.
It was the day I lost my innocence and realized that yes, the dumb question does exist. For the next three years, anytime those chip bringing instructions were given, all eyes would turn to me and say “First name or last?”
So now, I refrain from the question portion of any event. It’s just better that way.
It will save Caroline and me a lot of embarrassment in the future, although she has the benefit of having a first name and last name that don’t start with the same letter.
I’m all about creating a better future for my child.