The Trick of Knowing About Why and Because…

Miss Henrietta announced, “The two most dangerous words in the human language are why and because.”

She sounded like she was answering a person I couldn’t see. Me and Miss Henrietta were down by the creek. (Oops, I should have said Miss Henrietta and I were the only people at that spot on Howard creek.  grrr. It’s hard to remember to talk right).  

So I bit and asked her a question.  “But, I hear people say those words all the time. I don’t git it. How can why and because be dangerous?”

“Well, Lil, why implies that there is only one obvious reason for each experience in our lives. Let’s try an experiment. I’ll ask questions and you can answer.”

“Why did you fall down?”
“Because I tripped.”

“Why did you trip?”
“Because I caught my big toe on a tree root.”

“Why did you catch your toe?”
“Because I didn’t see it.”

“Why didn’t you see it?”
“I wasn’t looking.”

“Why were you not looking?”
“I was looking at the sky instead of my feet.”

“Why were you looking at the sky?”
“Because I wanted to find the durn hawk that was screaming.”

“Ahhh. So tell me, Lillian the Fearless, do you think you fell down because of the hawk? the tree root? the sky? your toe? or the hawk’s urgent call?”

“Miss Henrietta, are you just trying to get me confused?”

“No, I’m not. Okay, let’s consider the word because.”

“Why did you fall down, Lil?”
“Because I was not watching my feet.”

“Do you always fall down if you are not watching your feet?”
“Well, no.”

“So, because you were not watching your feet isn’t the answer either, is it?”

“You are just messing with me. I knew it. ”

She gave a little laugh like she does.

“Oh, Lil, every action doesn’t have only one predictable result. We human beings crave easy answers. The sensation of knowing something makes us feel safe and superior to the chaos we face in this crazy life.”

After she threw a pebble in the creek she said, “Me?  I like not knowing.”

“Why do you like not knowing things, then?”

“Because it makes me pay at-ten-tion.”  She said that with a twinkle. Yup, she did it. She tricked me into thinking again.