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In a Strange Land
Questions and Answers
By Larry J. Pitman

Is your life smooth or is it bumpy? Are you living life to the fullest or is it passing you by?

If you are experiencing difficulty, it may be because of the quality of questions you are asking or even that you are not asking enough questions.

Recently I was reading a book by the motivation specialist, Tony Robbins, and he stated that "the quality of your life is directly related to the kind of questions that you ask.”

I suspect that Tony is right. He has helped me realize that I suffer from the problem of anemic questions or that I might even suffer from a "question deficiency". So I have to face my weakness and confess my shortcomings.

First of all, being a male, I know that naturally my capacity for asking questions is weak. Of course, I hate to ask directions anywhere. Saying, "Can you tell me how to get to..." just sticks in my throat. I would rather spend hours wandering than ask that particular question.

Continuing to bare my soul, I must confess that often when I do not know how to do something, I am much more inclined to muddle through or to fake it. Asking for help is a no no.

Well, this deficiency or, let us call it a weakness, has a direct relation to the quality of my life in Peru. Whenever I have to do something with the bureaucracy, like renew my residence or do a car registration, I go to the office where the work is done and get the form I need. Usually I ask a question like "Is this the right form to do such and such?" They will say yes or no.

But what I often fail to do is follow-up. The next question which should be "what more do you need to have along with this form?" I rarely ask. This is a fatal flaw on my part. Inevitably when I go back with the form completed, the clerk says, "Oh, you need a copy of this before we can process the form." So I go get this and go back. Then they say: " oh you also need such and such." Another thing. So then, I go and get that. I almost feel like it is a game and the clerk is the winner, and I am the loser. I really need a better supply of questions to make my life easier.

Of course, my wife is wonderful with questions. She knows me well and often when I return from one of my encounters, she will pepper me with questions.

"Did you find out if you need a copy of such and such? Did you ask the doctor this? And the best one after meeting with a client or job interview, "Did you ask how much they will pay you?" It is embarrassing to admit that many times I do not have the answers to her questions.

Perhaps some day science will develop a pill that will help people like me with our question deficiency. Or maybe there will be a new group of consultants who work with those with a question deficit. All I know is that I need help soon.

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