Troy P Zehnder

I have discovered something about myself over the years. I am apparently the guy who has questions. Not complaints. Questions.

Now, some people have told me I have a dry sense of humor. Others have informed me that I have a look that can make a person feel incredibly uncomfortable when they ask a question that answers itself. I don’t know if that’s true. I simply have questions. For example…

Why do people put shopping carts everywhere except where the shopping carts are supposed to go? The grocery store has literally provided a designated area. It’s marked. It’s visible. It’s strategically placed throughout the parking lot. Yet somehow there is always a shopping cart sitting in the middle of a parking space like it paid rent to be there.

I have questions.

Then there is the highway. I was driving home recently doing seventy in a sixty-five. That’s already faster than I prefer to drive. People were passing me like I was standing still. Where are we all going? Did everyone suddenly receive an emergency text message that said, “Hurry! Life is happening five minutes sooner than expected!” Because from where I’m sitting, life already goes by fast enough.

I have questions.

And then there is my personal favorite: Reply All. For those fortunate enough never to have experienced this phenomenon, allow me to explain. A corporate email gets sent to two hundred people. The message is simple. “Please review the attached document.” One person replies to all:

“Received. Thank you.” Now two hundred people know that Gary successfully received an email. Then Susan replies all: “Got it.” Then Bob replies all: “Thanks.” Then Karen replies all: “Understood.”

Soon, hundreds of emails are flying across the company, all confirming that people have received the email whose purpose was to tell them what to do. The irony is that by the end of the day, everyone is so busy deleting emails that nobody has time to actually do the thing the original email requested.

At some point, a brave soul always emerges. They hit Reply All and write: “Everyone, please stop replying all.” Which, of course, is sent to everyone.

I have questions.

But perhaps the funniest thing about pet peeves is that they reveal something about ourselves. My friends tell me I notice things other people don’t notice. I see the shopping cart sitting by itself. I notice the person driving twenty miles over the speed limit. I notice the email chain that somehow reached thirty-seven messages without accomplishing anything.

Maybe that’s because part of me likes order. Maybe it’s because I spent years in leadership and security roles where details mattered. Or maybe I’ve simply reached an age where certain things make me stand there and wonder how we arrived at this point as a civilization.

Either way, I have questions.

The truth is that all of us do. We all have those little moments where we look around and think, “Am I the only one seeing this? “The answer is usually no. Someone else is seeing it too. They’re just standing there quietly with the same confused expression on their face.

And if you’re one of those people, welcome. You have found your tribe. We may never get answers to all of our questions. But at least we know we’re not the only ones asking them.