“The first and simplest emotion which we discover in the human mind, is curiosity.”

- Edmund Burke

It's that time of year again. The leaves have finished changing their colors and have fallen to the ground.

The warm summer winds have turned into autumn's chilly breezes.

My shorts are put on the top shelf and the sweaters

are put into the on-deck circle.

I find myself today by my fireplace, watching the flames dance around, I start to wax philosophical.

There're big questions that I'm sure we all wonder about from time to time. Why are we here?

What is the meaning of life?

Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons?

Today I am asking myself newfound questions regarding life.

Questions, that when you think about them, give you the same type of headache you get when you eat ice cream too fast.

For instance, why is it that my medical insurance helps to pay my bills for when I'm sick, but my car insurance doesn't help me if I break down?

I sneeze more than once in a day and Blue Cross Blue Shield will be there to help me get aspirin on the cheap.

Yet with Geico I don't even get a discount on gasoline. So that's one thing I need explained to me.

To tip or not to tip? I personally believe in tipping. If I get good service then I think a little gratuity is my way of saying “thank you and good job.”

The wonderment I have is not the people that get a tip; it's the people who don't get tipped.

How so?

Here's why.

Why is it that we tip cab drivers but not airline pilots? After all both get me where I need to go? Why do I tip the paper boy but not the FedEx guy?

Or this, I give the lady who cuts my hair a decent tip, and when I leave her shop I always feel good. With this in mind, the person who is there to actually make me feel good doesn't get tipped at all, that's right, my doctor.

I have never given my doctor a tip, sad but true, perhaps that is why he always has cold hands during the physical.

And it's not like he isn't asking for a tip either; why else would he hand me a

little jar and say “fill this up please.” Maybe if I put

something green in there

I might get a better diagnosis.

This last one is sort of simple yet still bugs me. Why is a muffin a muffin; but a muffin with icing is a cupcake?

The way I look at it is, a cupcake is just a muffin with makeup and a personality. They say don't sweat the small stuff, but it's the

small stuff that annoys me most.

So if you ever catch me just sort of zoning out, don't just assume that I'm not paying attention, instead, realize that I just might be trying to solve life's little mysteries.

Auburn native Bradley Molloy's column appears here each Sunday in The Citizen. He can be reached at lovonian@hotmail.com