What do YOU think?

This story seemed a sort of filling follow-up to my previous one.

Yesterday, I stopped by Cam's Pizzeria at lunchtime (Cam's is a New York City-style pizzeria in upstate New York). As I walked in the door, a gentleman sitting at a nearby table asked me an innocuous question about the car. I think it was "do you like it?", a question I enjoy answering.

His next question was "What does it cost, $5,000?" No, you can't buy a car in the US for $5,000, especially not one with all the safety features, AC, and extras the smart has.

Next was, "It's all electric, right?" No, I told him, it's all gas. That's a pretty common mistake.

His last one amused me the most. "What do you get, like 80 miles per gallon?" I already told him it's all gas, and no non-diesel gas car in the US gets over 50 mpg, let alone 80. I laughed as I answered that one.

I thought this was an interesting way of asking questions. On the one hand, it shows the misconceptions people have about small cars and the smart in particular. On the other hand, I couldn't help but feel, afterward, that he made my car seem inadequate. The way he phrased the questions, the car came across as expensive, old-fashioned, and poor on mileage.

Of course, those things aren't true. And I like to think that wasn't the way he intended to ask the questions. But it's interesting to note how the way you ask a question (and I'm trained to ask questions, so this is part of my expertise) can go a long way toward influencing how others answer and how they see you. Something to keep in mind as you stuff your mouth with pizza, I guess.