I may as well confess there are many things that baffle me. You’d think at this stage of the game I’d have it all figured out, right? But actually, it’s the opposite; age has not lessened my bafflement.

For instance, I was cruising down the freeway recently, in the slow lane for once in my life, when I heard honking in the lane to my left. Since there wasn’t traffic and we were all going the speed limit, I wondered why this person was laying on the horn. Not just a toot toot but a continual blast that lasted seconds.

I was in my SUV with our Marin Friends of Ferals placard on the door, our MFFCATS license plate and a window banner that says marinferals.org. So naturally I figured it was a fan of ours honking approval of what we do.

As the young man sailed past in his sports car, he lifted his arm, pointed his hand toward me, then flipped me the bird. I was shocked. I’ve never been flipped off before — a pretty good track record for an almost 67-year-old, don’t you think? Anyway, I chalked it up to him being a cat hater. But still, it was baffling.

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We’ve all seen those commercials for medications promoting drugs that promise to make you live longer, like Kisqali for metastatic breast cancer. It’s FDA approved, but that doesn’t ease my mind one bit. Why, you ask?

Do you know how many FDA approved drugs are recalled each year for being downright dangerous to your health? Me neither, but I’ll let you know. Is it worth the risk? I guess we all have to decide for ourselves. But sometimes it makes me wonder how certain drugs get approved in the first place. My guess is deep pockets. (Looked it up and the FDA Data Dashboard says from 2012-2022, 14,038 drugs were recalled!)

The commercial for Kisqali baffles me. It depicts happy, smiling women at work. But the side effects of Kisqali sound pretty dang scary so I’m left wondering if this will be recall # 14,039. They’re probably hoping you don’t pay attention to the voice-over saying:

Kisqali can cause lung problems, abnormal heart beat which can lead to death, serious skin problems, liver problems and a low white blood cell count that may result in severe infections. Tell your doctor of new or worsening symptoms including breathing problems, chest pain, change in heart beat, yellowing of skin or eyes, dark urine, tiredness, loss of appetite, bleeding, bruising, fever, chills, abdomen pain, severe or worsening rash.

And don’t even get me started on Opdivo and Yervoy.

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Why do hot dog bun makers package only 8 buns when they know hot dogs come in packs of 10? Can’t one of them change their packaging so people aren’t left bunless? Now don’t get me wrong; I don’t actually care since I don’t eat hot dogs. But still, it’s baffling, don’t you think?

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I’m also baffled by the fact that it’s legal for an 18-year-old to buy an AK-15 rifle without undergoing a background check or a waiting period. It’s preposterous. But yet it’s against the law for that teen to drink alcohol. I’d rather encounter a drunk teenager than an armed one, wouldn’t you?

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Why is it that sex, nudity and swearing are censored in TV and movies but pretty much every form of violence is not only welcomed but glorified?

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Why does anyone watch Cricket, if they even do? It’s a notoriously slow sport. Matches are played over 5 days, averaging 6 hours a day! And here I thought watching golf was boring.

Anyway, that’s just the beginning of what baffles me; my list, dear friends, is endless.