Revisited: Do you ever wonder...?

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This column first appeared a year ago and is being updated this year with new musings of the kind that the man it honors might offer.)<br /> <br /> ..............................................................................<br /> <br /> I've had the idea for this column bouncing around in my head for maybe two years. Just never acted on it. But then after Andy Rooney retired a few weeks ago, I decided it was time to write it. And, then after he died over the weekend, I knew the time had come.<br /> <br /> Rooney had been a fixture on "60 Minutes" for years. "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney" would end the show on many Sunday evenings.<br /> <br /> And likely or not Andy would intone the phrase "Do you ever wonder...?" at one or maybe more places in the few minutes he had with the us on those Sunday evenings.<br /> <br /> So, with apologizes to Andy but with much respect and admiration...<br /> <br /> NEW FOR 2012<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder why some of this year's political candidates said some of those awkward "I-wish-I-could-take-that-back" things they did?<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder why interstate highway weigh stations, more often than not, are closed, and have been, on weekends and holidays? Don't big trucks keep rolling weekends and holidays?<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder why those signs along roads in Georgia read "Speed reduced ahead" instead of "Speed limit reduced ahead," or "Reduce speed ahead," which is what they really mean?<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder why the term "reached out to" seems to be replacing "contacted" and who got us started using the terms "back in the day" and "run the table" and how we fell into their trap?<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder why so many people put so much importance on the outcome of a sporting event, like it was a life-or-death thing?<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder why some people put the Christmas decorations at their homes up so early? Early November or earlier, for instance?<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder if this Black Friday thing is getting out of hand?<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder why "trash talking" among athletes is allowed in organized sports?<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder what is accomplished with these periodic hit-and-run skirmishes between Israel and its enemies?<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder why ominous words like "severe" and "storm" are so prevalent in the "branding" of the weather services offered by so many TV stations?<br /> <br /> FROM 2011<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder what the plot of dirt we call Gainesville looked like a million years ago or will look like a million years form now?<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder, given all the bad guys he encounters, the attempted murders he's the victim of, the kidnappings, etc., why comic strip character Mark Trail never has to show up in court to testify against these guys?<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder if there's a more lonely and boring job than being one of those yellow- or orange-shirted "Event Staff" security people who stand with their backs to the field during college and pro football games, never turning around, regardless of what is happening on the field?<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder why so many people are in such a hurry this day and time?<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder how many of the people you see everyday breaking the law by speeding are among those who look at illegal immigrants and their advocates and question "what is it about 'illegal' that you don't understand?"<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder why a car is called a car and a truck is called a truck and not vice versa or sand is called sand and grass is called grass and not vice versa and who decides these things?<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder why anyone would want to be President?<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder why people wear baseball-type caps backwards, especially adults?<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder why talk show hosts seem to always talk in absolutes instead of stating that what they are saying their opinion?<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder who the "we" is that the talk show hosts are always talking about as in "we gotta do some about so-and-so?"<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder if one of the most overused and misused words in the English language is "heroes?"<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder if the word "conservative" is the most overused word by many political candidates?<br /> <br /> Do you ever wonder why Andy Rooney "wondered" so much?<br /> <br /> Rest in peace, Andy.<br /> <br /> <I>(Ken Stanford is a Contributing Editor and the retired longtime Newsroom Manager for WDUN AM 550, WDUN 102.9FM, 1240 ESPN RADIO, and AccessNorthGa.com.)<I>