Are You Embarrassed Because You Ask Too Many Questions?

When I was in school, my mother would religiously attend the parent-teacher conferences.

At one of the high school conferences, one of the teachers told my mother…

              “Karen is disruptive in class.” 

Never having heard that issue before, she asked what I was doing to disrupt the class.

The teacher replied, “She asks too many questions.” 

My mother asked, “Are they good questions?”

Teacher: “Yes, but she asks too many of them!” 

Fast forward many, many, many years.

I ask questions.  Lots of them.  While I’m not a “consensus-type of decision maker” I enjoy getting feedback from, others which helps me come to my own conclusions and decisions.

So, I recently asked a question within a Facebook Group about a website that “predicts” how the bond market and mortgage interest rates will change within the next few days.

My question was:

 “Has anyone tracked the accuracy of the bond and rate predictions over the last 6 months?”

You would have though I was questioning GOD himself.  I received a ton hateful comments from members of that group who “subscribed” to the service—basically saying how dare I question the website’s accuracy.

I argued back—all I am looking for is a YES or NO answer.   Still more nasty comments.  But in the end, the group finally admitted that no one had tracked the predictions.

Here’s the thing: I believe that when you get negative comments or feedback, it’s someone trying to change the focus of the question, so they don’t have to admit that they don’t know the answer.

So, I’d like to end with these thoughts:

• Ask intelligent questions—things that you are curious about.
• Respectfully respond if you have a different point of view, or pursue the answer if it was meant to distract you from the original question.
• Decide if the answer is in line with your belief system.
• Be open minded to exploring other options.

Back to the parent-teacher conference:  The next day, my mother marched into the principal’s office, shared the conversation, as asked if I could be transferred to another class.

And I was.