Stupid questions. Teachers/professors have always told me “There is no such thing as a stupid question”. Sorry, but I beg to differ. There are such things as stupid questions.

I first laughed about this when I saw one episode of Gilmore Girls way back and Lorelei wanted to ask Luke a question, and she said it’s stupid, and Luke responded with there are no stupid questions, and she sarcastically replied “How do pens work?” or something to that effect and Luke replies “Ok, so there are stupid questions, what was yours?” I don’t even remember what the original question was now, but that little tidbit has stuck with me for years.

Stupid questions really bother me. I know in reactions to some things, it’s almost an automated response, but there are some questions asked in certain classes/situations that I’m just sitting there thinking “this person can’t be serious right now” and almost want to come up with a sarcastic answer to mock them with.

Does this make me a bad person? I don’t know. I have probably asked some *really* stupid questions in my time- but for some reason they still bother me to no end.

For example, when you are trying to buy something, and hand the cashier a $20- and they respond “so you want this out of 20$?” I know that there have probably been people that hand them the wrong bill (such as a $20 when paying for something that’s $1), but I almost want to say “No, hold on, let me get out my $50 so you can make even more change”

Another one (more SL example)- when the ETD sale first gets put out and EVERYONE rushes there- I’ve gotten some “are you just looking?” “are you here for the sale?” No, I’m here because I LOVE going to ultra-laggy sims that are commercial and not for relaxing. SERIOUSLY people- only those going to the sale are going to go even if they end up walking like they’re in molasses- not your casual shopper or looker. Even those that were just there to look and didn’t know of the sale and ultra lag would probably quit trying when they find out the sim is filled or when they TP in and can’t move.

Or another. Sitting in the library with books and notebooks all around- someone looks at you and goes “Are you trying to study right now?” No, I just enjoy reading massive textbooks and doing research for fun!

This post is stemming from an incident tonight. My anatomy/physiology/pathophysiology (APP for short) lab was doing a blood glucose experiment. We had to come up with a procedure that could ultimately change the levels of your blood glucose. My group decided we wanted to test cold temperatures and the effects it has on blood glucose levels. I got to be one of the lucky people to sit outside for twenty minute increments x3 (testing our blood glucose every 20min with meters). Don’t ask why we decided to do this, the person that had the original idea got to stay INSIDE, the two that stayed outside (myself included) were the two that were probably going to bitch the least.

So one of my group partners and I are sitting outside in jeans and a tshirt on lab stools. It was 25F/-3.8C outside- aka COLD! Most  people stared at us with omgwtfbbq?! looks but a few responded.

Random student: OMG! Aren’t you guys cold???

Sarcastic response: No you silly person! We were actually so warm inside we decided to come outside with lab stools and chill out here in our tshirts. I actually shiver and convulse whenever I want to- not just when I’m cold.

Random professor: Is this for an experiment?

Sarcastic response: Nope. Our professor got REALLY mad at us so he took our jackets and threw us outside with some lab stools to think about what we had done since he was all out of dunce caps.

Next time you want to ask a question- think about it in your head for a second before it blurts out of your mouth. Ask yourself ”Do I already know the answer to this?” and if the answer is YES, don’t bother asking it.

Ironically, while outside shivering my partner and I realized three things:

1. He was probably having a hard time getting blood to come out of his finger to test glucose levels since we were outside in the cold. One of the first things your body does is start reducing blood flow to your extremeties.
2. We found no studies like this on humans because it would most likely be considered unethical and not pass a review board since there are risks such as hypothermia.
3. Never, ever, ever on your own free will volunteer to stay outside, sitting (aka can’t move around) for that long  in a tshirt when it is this cold. Whether it is for the love of science or not- just don’t do it!

*Grumbles and cuddles under blankets with some hot cocoa. *

Edit: The results of the experiment (if you were interested) were surprising. The control group (the two lucky assholes) had no significant change in their glucose levels (which is expected). We expected glucose levels to go down in the cold since your muscles would be shivering. What happened was after the first 20 minutes they only dropped slightly (we were also wearing sweatshirts) but could also be explained by the first exposure to cold and muscles using up the glucose real fast. After the second time outside glucose levels elevated dramatically. This can be accounted to glucagon (a hormone released by pancreas) starting to be released to break up glycogen stored in the liver into glucose, as well as stimulating your liver to make new glucose molecules. Both of those would increase the amount of glucose in your blood. After the 3rd trial outside our glucose levels dropped again, more dramatically this time- which we can say happened due to the glucose that was just released/made was used up already. 

If you didn’t understand that at all- glucose = simple sugar and your fast acting energy source. If it still boggles your mind you can either ask me about it OR just go along on your merry way I don’t expect many to understand that whole little explanation.

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