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Ask a Stupid Question Day

Fun · September 28

A day for asking the questions people usually swallow, from the basic to the oddly specific, and finding out the answers are often interesting.

Ask a Stupid Question Day falls on Tuesday, September 28, 2027. That is 336 days away.

Most people have a question they never asked because it seemed too obvious. Why is the sky blue. What does a comma actually do. How does a zipper hold together. Ask a Stupid Question Day invites those questions out into the open.

The name sounds harsher than the idea. The point is that a question only feels stupid when you think you are the only one wondering. Usually you are not. In a classroom or a meeting, the person who finally asks is often doing a favor for half the room.

Simple questions also tend to have surprisingly deep answers. The blue sky comes from the way air scatters sunlight, with shorter blue wavelengths scattered more than red ones. A zipper works because a slider presses rows of interlocking teeth together and pries them apart. Ask why enough times about almost anything and you end up somewhere unexpected.

Marking the day is easy. People ask a teacher, a coworker or a grandparent the thing they always wondered about. Some families keep a running list of questions on the fridge and look them up together. Kids are naturally good at this and can lead the way.

The best responses treat the question seriously. A patient answer makes the next question easier to ask, and the one after that might be the good one.

Ways to celebrate

• Ask someone the question you have always been too shy to ask.
• Start a family list of everyday questions and look up the answers.
• Let a child ask you anything and answer patiently.
• Look up why something ordinary, like ice floating, works the way it does.

Dates

All national days on September 28

Also on September 28

• National Good Neighbor Day
• National Strawberry Cream Pie Day

Categories: Fun days