Life, it seems, is filled with unanswered questions. Case in point: “What is our purpose here on Earth?”
While a valid question, it is not an easily answerable one.
A plethora of questions, some in a similar vein, plague us everyday. And quite often, I would contend, we go about our daily routine without addressing these questions.
Now, I’m no philosopher and I don’t routinely debate deep questions, but it is my belief if we can answer these smaller questions, we will undoubtedly answer the greater question about our own existence on this planet. To that end, I have compiled a few relatively simple questions that I believe, if answered, will help us understand our existence on Earth:
- Why do people still pay to see the NBA?
- Why are athletes considered our role models? Why not members of the military?
- If it’s 9:30, is it really “five o’clock somewhere?”
- How is something free if you need my credit card number?
- If passwords for my various e-mail accounts and other online services are all supposed to be different and they are not supposed to be actual words, how am I to remember them?
- I think those electronic message boards over the interstate — the ones that warn us about wrecks a few miles ahead — are great. But why does it seem there is always at least one light bulb that is always on? They’re not that old, are they already broken or do they come that way?
- How is it meteorologists can put together an extended forecast? They can’t even get tomorrow’s weather right. Should I really trust their 10-day outlook?
- Why do DJs feel the need to talk over the music?
- Why do big rig truck drivers feel as though they can barrel down the highway as if they own the whole road, and when someone is in front of them they can simply flash their headlights and traffic will part for them?
- Why does everyone go back to square one? What’s wrong with square two?
- How can anyone object to using the Bill of Rights or the Constitution to study history in school?
- If I feel the American Civil Liberties Union is denying my civil liberties, will they represent me in that case?
So, there you have it — we’re just a few questions away from answering the greatest question of our existence. Now if we can just get a consensus on these answers, we’d be set.
This column was submitted for publication in December 2004, but was not published because Todd DeFeo ended his association with the newspaper.