Unintentional Class Clown

Is it true that there is no such this as a stupid question? In my opinion, yes there is such a thing as a stupid question, for example when someone asks something that is common sense or right in front of them. Everyone has been guilty of doing this at least once in their life, there have been many times I have been zoned out and asked a common sense question. Even after thinking about asking it or not, I answered it myself not even seconds later. I have always been one not to want to look ignorant or rude for not paying attention. I am not one to just ask questions so when I do I normally think about it first.

A time I debated asking a question I’ll never forget was in culinary, it was on one of my first days in culinary. We were doing a lesson on omelets. It was still a new class and everyone was in the process of making friends. I had known some of the kids already because I had moved around a lot in middle school, so the people I stuck close to I’ve known for years we just haven’t talked in a while. My friends and I were laughing at each other for literally no reason. Once one of us laughed it was game over and we could not stop. Chef Dan had been explaining the proper way to cook, fold, fill, and flip an omelet. Again we were just listening not looking at his example in the front of the kitchen. I hate asking questions but, I thought he had flipped and moved the egg around in the pan with his hands. I thought about it for a second and I decided to just ask instead of turning around. I blurted out without raising my hand which I never do “How do you do all that without a spatula do you just use your fingers and pretend it is not burning.” The entire class busted out into laughter so I looked up to see the chef and in fact, had a rubber spatula in his hand. My face was bright red and I honestly wanted to leave at that moment. He had said in response to me ” I’m sorry bud I assume all students had common sense and I did not need to voice the use of a spatula out loud.”

After his comment, I was even more embarrassed and wished I had just waited three seconds to speak and looked up first and the whole incident could have been avoided.
I always fear saying the wrong thing or asking the obvious so it is always a nightmare come true when I seem like I’m not paying attention. So I always try to think about what I’m saying before I say it so I don’t make myself look stupid. I was so embarrassed I didn’t wanna show up to the next class. But I did not want to let one silly comment stop me from a fun class even if I was just skipping one class. When I went back to class I decided I was going to learn from my mistake from the class before and I stepped away from my friends so I could listen and look at the demo that was happening in front of the class. I did this every class from that point forward. I would stand out from the view of my friends and make sure I could pay attention to the people around me. I did this to avoid any future mistakes because I’m not focused 100% on my lesson.

In the end, we all make mistakes and are bound to ask some stupid questions that are otherwise obvious to everyone else around us. However, it is not the end of the world. Instead of getting stuck on the situation, focus on how to avoid it from happening in the future. Mistakes are a way we better ourselves so we need to make mistakes so we have lessons to learn from. that how we grow mistakes are mandatory. So next time you are debating on asking a question, ask the question even if it is stupid you will learn from it either way.

“Make Mistakes‘ ‘ by chris 7702 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.