By JOHN PAWLAK
Los Alamos

We go through our lives in constant wonder, asking how, who, when, where, what, which, and of course, why. Most answers are fairly definitive, but the “Why” questions are often answered with a “Because” … when the real answer is “I don’t know.”

Why do we have fingertips, but no toetips? Why can we tiptoe, but not tipfinger? Why isn’t a butterfly called a flutterby? Why can a door be ajar, but a jar can’t be a door?

Why, why, why! Ah, but why stop asking why?

Why do we park on driveways and drive on parkways? Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii? Why is ‘abbreviation’ such a long word?

Why does night fall but day breaks? Why do people trust their investments to a person called a ‘broker’? Why do cars go slowest during a rush hour? Why is an opinion only worth two cents?

Why indeed? Why do airlines claim to be safe, then call their airport a terminal? Why does skating on thin ice get you into hot water? Why do people yell “Heads up!” when they want you to duck? Why is quicksand so slow?

Why does a pound of sugar weigh more than a pound of gold? Okay, actually, that one is true and a high school student taking Physics should be able to explain it!

Why should we ask these questions? Well, why do you ask?

Why are boxing rings square? Why do we cook bacon and bake cookies? Why don’t they sell mouse flavored cat food? Why do we say ‘upside down’ instead of ‘downside up’? Why is there a ‘d’ in ‘fridge’ but not in ‘refrigerator’? Why is a building, once completed, still called a building and not a built? Why do we call it a hot water heater when it’s actually supposed to heat cold water? Why do ‘oversee’ and ‘overlook’ mean opposite things?

We live in times that seem to challenge us daily with new and sometimes unsettling whys. With so many why questions and so little time, one might wonder, why ask why? The best answer I can give is – why not?