Remember back in elementary school, the teachers reassured you there were "no dumb questions"?
So you'd ask. And all through fourth grade have to live with the reputation, "Oh, there's that kid with the dumb question."
You've learned to keep your mouth shut since then. Except, well, when you're on vacation. Maybe it's a little of that "letting your guard down" syndrome, the one that makes it easy to get pickpocketed, or sold a bridge.
In fairness, though, travel is a time when questions really are appropriate. We travel to learn new things, after all. To go somewhere different. Sometimes, really different.
In fact, the questions can start when a trip is still just a twinkle in a traveler's eye.
The American Society of Travel Agents recently compiled a list of the most "bizarre requests made of an ASTA professional travel agent," on the occasion of the inaugural National Plan your Vacation Day. Travel agents are not just a luxury, but a necessity for some folks, obviously.
As I read their list, I recalled that cluelessness is not limited to the travel agent milieu. So I tracked down some of my other favorites � from cruise lines, tour operators, national park rangers and so on.
Also, as I looked them over, I realized that some of these questions are not entirely dumb _ it just depends on the context. There's probably a place or a situation somewhere in the world where a dumb question, with maybe a little tweaking, is actually a "good question!" (another reassuring teacher refrain).
We are not laughing at people. Really. OK, yes we are. But we're probably laughing with them, just a little. At least if you're like me and ask the occasional clunker. Or brought, say, a very cordial press luncheon with officials to a crashing halt with just a passing query. ("How long do you celebrate the death of your Queen Mother?")
Have fun, and let this serve as a reminder that in travel, as in fourth grade, there are such things as dumb questions. The good news is that if you wait long enough, someone else will probably ask your dumb question for you.
