A guy at the library in Austin asked me the weirdest question about asking questions

I was helping out at the local library's community help desk last Tuesday, basically just pointing people to the right sections. This older guy came up, looked confused, and said, 'How do you ask a question when you don't even know what you need to know?' We talked for like 20 minutes about how to start a search when you're totally lost. He ended up finding a book on local bird calls. It was a small thing, but it stuck with me. Has anyone else had a moment where helping someone ask a question was the whole job?

2 comments

2 Comments

hollyramirez16d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah, that reminds me of when my nephew was trying to figure out why his old bike made a noise... he kept asking how to fix the "clunk" but really needed to learn the parts' names first. Had to start with "what moves when you pedal?" It's like what @the_betty said about the question behind the question. We ended up looking at a simple diagram online for ten minutes before he could even ask for the right tool. Just guiding someone to their own starting point changes everything.

the_betty16d ago

Sometimes the question behind the question is the real one... helping someone find that feels like unlocking a door.