Before I die, I’ve got a lot of questions

Every day I look around me and I see things that don’t make any sense. For example, why can’t people drive cars safely when it rains? Snow and ice I can understand, but there seem to be a lot of wrecks every time it rains. What am I missing here? It’s just water. Maybe try slowing down a scoche.

And why is there a wreck on I-79 seemingly every day, regardless of the weather? It’s a puzzlement to me.

I have a lot of questions like that, and I wish someone could explain things to me before I die. Take cereal for example. Why doesn’t cereal come in Ziploc bags?

Here are some more points to ponder:

* Why do we build new high schools because the old buildings are considered to be unsafe, and then turn the old buildings into middle schools?

* Why do we need more sunlight in the summer, when it’s warm at night, instead of the winter, when it’s cold?  

* If doctors and nurses can wear masks all day in the operating room, why can’t shoppers wear one for 10 minutes in the donut shop? 

* Why do newspapers have digital editions where the news can be posted instantaneously, but it still takes three days to report high school basketball scores...if they get reported at all.

* And when did reporters stop asking questions? Did curiosity die while I was away?

* Why are politicians free to break laws that I’m required to obey?

* Why can churches actively support political candidates and rake in billions of dollars in donations so their pastors can buy private airplanes and mansions, but are still exempt from paying taxes?

* Why are vaccination rates for Covid-19 not as high as they were for smallpox and polio?

* Why does it take only 50 votes to confirm a Supreme Court justice in the Senate but 60 votes to protect the planet from environmental catastrophe or preserve American democracy?

* Why aren’t people who run for president required to take a basic intelligence test, know something about U.S. and world history and be examined for probable mental illness?

* If you have a brain scan and the doctor tells you he “didn't find anything,” is that a good thing?

* When did discrimination become legal and racism become culturally acceptable?

* What do people think Critical Race Theory actually means?

* Why can’t basketball officials make a call in the last two minutes of a game without spending 10 minutes looking at the monitor? If they’re going to spend that much time watching TV, they should call the games from home.

* Also, when will football officials finally determine what constitutes pass interference?  

* How does anyone know what a deserted area looks like?

* Why does the Electoral College still exist? I’m a blue voter in a deep red state so my vote never counts. The opposite is true for red voters in blue ones.

* Why can’t Facebook take a joke? (Example 1: I once teased a friend who owns a Volkswagen with the words, “Damn Germans” and was suspended by Facebook for hate speech. Example 2: Asked to name the best TV dad, I said “Fred Sanford, you big dummy” and was issued another warning. Clearly the Facebook robot didn’t watch the show.)

* Why can’t climate change deniers understand the legacy they are leaving for their grandchildren?

* Why can we drive a vehicle around Mars using a remote device but can’t implement effective traffic control on earth?

* I heard recently that a person's identity was unknown. When he was growing up, didn't anyone tell him who he was?

* Why aren’t people caught abusing and abandoning dogs taken to a shelter and locked in cages for several years?

* Why don’t insurance companies cover flooding caused by rainwater running off my roof, calling it “ground water” instead. And why can’t they explain, if it was ground water, how did it get up there in my gutters?

* Why does the Postal Service lose millions of dollars every year but still puts its carriers in gas-guzzling jeeps to deliver mail. I have watched my mailman drive from house to house on a residential street, starting and stopping his motor each time, when the mailboxes are not more than 50 feet apart. My father was a mailman. When he delivered mail, he walked.

* How can you receive occupational therapy if you don't have a job?

I’m sure there are hundreds more questions I could post, but consider this my starter list. Feel free to add to it as you wish.

In addition, you can start explaining some of these things at any time. I’ll be here, where I always am, waiting for your reply.

(By the way, do you suppose Fletch is still using the Underhills' American Express card? I often wonder about that.)