The most stupid questions are the ones people don't ask

How often have you been in a meeting when someone used an expression, or referred to something, which everyone else appeared to understand, but you didn’t have a clue what they were talking about? And in that situation, how easy did you find it to ask?

I must confess that this happens to me quite regularly. Perhaps more than most because I’m a non-engineer working for a company where the majority of managers have an engineering background, and so I’ve had to evolve ways of dealing with it. But I think most people, if we are honest, would agree that it is a common occurrence, and if being very honest, that we don’t ask “what on earth are you talking about” often enough.

For what it’s worth, in my experience, if you start with “Please forgive me if this is a stupid question, but can you explain to me …” then most of the time people will try to make you feel better with “That’s not a stupid question at all.” (Even if they think it is.) And quite often someone else who was trying to pluck up the courage to ask the same question will tell you afterwards that they were glad you did it for them.

One group of people who have to develop the knack of asking apparently silly questions, and often get unfairly pilloried for it, are judges. Last week in St Albans Crown Court Mr Justice Seddon Cripps had the temerity to ask what a sofa bed is. Cue much tabloid tittering along the same lines as greeted the judges who over the years have asked about the identities of Gazza, the Teletubbies, or Linford Christie’s lunchbox.

But if we stop and think for a minute it becomes obvious that, if we find ourselves in court, perhaps falsely accused of some offence for which a conviction might mean twenty years in prison, we would be grateful that the person presiding is not afraid to ask questions. As Libby Purves put it in today’s Times, a judge is paid to understand the law: why should he (or she) be embarrassed not to know who Jade from Big Brother is?

All too often the fear of looking like a twit can stop us asking people what they mean. But in some circumstances the consequences of not asking the question can be much worse – and looking like an even bigger twit is usually the least important.

On that note, here are a few silly questions which should be asked more often here in West Cumbria

If complex maternity services are moved from Whitehaven to Carlisle, what will happen to expectant mothers in West Cumbria who suddenly develop severe complications and need those services urgently?

How will residents of Millom who don’t have a car cope when they need an emergency prescription and all the chemists in the town are closed?

If there is a problem because volunteer lifeguards do not appear to meet the necessary standards, can we try to provide training and assistance to get them up to the standard rather than abandon efforts to provide a lifeguard service on beaches where people have recently drowned?

Comments

Hello Chris
I read your comment on the absence of qualified lifeguards on the beaches in the UK. Please clarify for me - are the Local Authorities not obliged to provide a lifeguard service on their Blue Flag beaches?
Best Regards

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