Things I Don't Understand

   The past few nights C and I have been staying up way too late watching the Olympics. A few nights ago I found myself unable to go to bed in spite of that fact that I was tired,because I had to watch the end of the team pursuit event. I had no idea what it was about except that strange looking bicycles were involved.
  I couldn't stand it anymore and I looked up 'team pursuit' on Wikipedia. I still don't understand it. A team of three or four cyclists ride around an oval track a certain number of times. The goal is to get around the track in the shortest time. The other team is trying to do the same thing and is also on the track, but going in the other direction. Since the lead is the most demanding part of the event, once in awhile the lead rider will peel off to the side and take the rear.
  Isn't this the same as a race on a track? Why don't they line everyone up and the first to cross the finish line wins? Where's the pursuit part? As far as I can tell no one is chasing anyone. Why do you have three cyclists riding three separate bikes? I don't get it. Shouldn't they ride a three person bike? Wouldn't that make much more sense?
  As I watched this race the number of things I wonder about went rolling through my head. There are so many things I just don't "get". I'd like to share of few of them with you.
  Since the Olympics are on I will start with them. I don't understand the scoring for gymnastics. I always thought the high score was a ten. Now it's a 16. What changed that they needed six extra points? Why do the female gymnasts do silly looking dance moves on the floor routines while the men just do a set number of tumbling runs? Why do the women do that pose at the end of their routines? You know what I'm talking about. It's the one where they stick their butts and chest out. The men don't do that.
   I also don't understand why the swimmers wear suits with legs on them and the track runners wear what looks like swimsuit bottoms. Shouldn't it be the other way around?
   Why do cats stare intently at nothing? Scamp and Colby do this all the time. I have no idea what they are looking at. Sometimes I crouch next to them to see if I can spot what has their attention. They tend to stare at me when I do this. While I'm at it, how do they manage to move from place to place without being seen to move. I think Scamp and Colby can dematerialize and rematerialize at will. Cats are mysterious creatures and I love them, but I don't understand them.
   It's political ad season. Most people would say that they do not like the negative ads that are run. Politicians keep running them though because they seem to be effective. Why? I don't understand. If most people don't like them then how can they be effective?
  I also don't understand people who watch horror films and shows. These are people who seem to enjoy fear. How is this possible? I don't like being afraid. It scares me. The same thing goes for people that like to watch violence. I don't understand that either. There's enough of it going on in the world especially lately. Why would someone need to seek it out as entertainment? What is so entertaining about it anyway? When I see people and things being blown up and killed, all I can think about is how wasteful it is.
  On a somewhat controversial note,I don't understand how an African American couple could be told that their wedding could not be held in a church the day before the wedding. If people were so bent out of shape about a non Caucasian wedding being celebrated in the church,why did they wait until the last possible moment to object? It's not like the couple strolled up to the church and decided on the spur of the moment to do it. These things take months to plan. I don't get it.
  I also don't understand the double standard when it comes to ethnic stereotypes. There are all kinds of protests when various minority groups are stereotyped. Representatives for these groups lobby filmmakers and producers of TV shows to paint all kinds of groups in more positive ways. I can understand this and agree with this. What I don't understand is why Germans and Italians seem to be exempt. Germans are always portrayed as either Nazis, beer drinking polka dancers or weird inhuman creatures named "Dieter". Italians are invariably shown as wine guzzling, pasta eating Mafiosos. I don't get it. I have both Italian and German roots and none of my relatives are like the people you see on TV or in the movies. (Thank you for letting me get this off my chest, I feel much better now.)
  This is just a few of the things I don't understand. Some of them I may figure out eventually and some will remain a mystery. I just hope that  I'll figure a few out before new ones come to take their place.....