Eve Di Potenza

What is one question you hate to be asked? Explain.

Hate is a pretty strong word. I’m not a big fan of questions in general, but I really dislike obvious questions. It’s a weird conversation starter, and I’m not sure if all cultures do it, but Canadians can’t seem to help themselves. ‘Oh, I see a person performing a task. I’m going to ask them a really obvious question instead of just saying hello or even asking if they require assistance.’ Why do we do this? I have even caught myself doing it, and I hate it when I do that. I’ll give you a couple of examples.

One time, we’d had a big snowfall. The plows went through and basically buried a bunch of cars. Mine was one of them. I was busy shovelling my car out of this snow bank when some guy walked up with his dog. “Ohhh, Hey, looks like you got buried. Are you digging yourself out?” My answer: “No, I’m piling the snow onto the car. It drives better with a little extra added weight.”

Another instance, someone had been cleaning the carpets in my office, and clearly, my computer had come unplugged. I was on my knees, going through the cables, plugging everything back in, when a very helpful person popped their head into my office. “Oh, you came unplugged last night during the cleaning, eh?” My answer: “No, I always unplug my computer every night so no one hacks us through the power grid.”

Another time, I had been trimming around a tree in my front yard. (I always use scissors right up against the bark so I don’t scar the tree.) A very helpful neighbour walked up. “Using scissors on the lawn, eh?” I looked up at them over my sunglasses like a librarian looks up from her readers, because you’re talking too loudly. “Did you know that they make whipper snippers? It’d make short work of all that!” My answer: “Actually, I sold mine (It was on the grass right beside me). I do the whole lawn with scissors, that’s how they cut the greens for the PGA, and it’s better for the environment.”

Another time, I was in the grocery store buying babyfood. There was a sale on, so I was grabbing quite a few little jars, and someone swung on up with their cart. “Oh, buying babyfood for your kids?” I mean, yes, I could have been buying the babyfood for someone else’s kids, but I can’t help myself. My answer: “Nah, I just have goldfish. They love this stuff.”

Sometimes people laugh, and sometimes they walk away like they’ve just met an alien. Either way, I’m good.