DARE TO ASK: Then we’ll put our heads together …

By PHILLIP MILANO

Ah, fall. Time again for us to think about melting Arctic ice, children who test poorly, large deficits, an appalling housing market and dark energy aiding the universe’s unabated march toward cold, black oblivion.

Oh wait, we can think about that stuff any time.

Instead, let’s think about answering Dare to Ask questions. Below are some happy ones for you to ponder. Reply at www.yforum.com by typing “newspaper column” (no quote marks) in the keyword field on the search page. Up will pop:

Question

Why do girls always think guys are only out for sex?

Robert, 17, Cromwell, Conn.

Question

You know how Islamic people wear turbans? Do they ever make a fashion statement with them? Do they have Louis Vuitton turbans, or turbans with checkered or plaid patterns?

R., 15, male, Fleming Island

Question

Why do some white people get tans?

Dorothy, black, Jacksonville

Question

Is it rude to go to a gay bar if you are not gay?

Molli, Sioux City, Iowa

Question

I wonder why every time I read about a Jewish person, the sentence always contains “nice.” For instance, on (former History Channel host) Josh Bernstein: a “nice Jewish boy from New York.” Or (Comedy Central’s) Sarah Silverman: a “nice Jewish girl from Connecticut.”

Sharon, Keystone Heights

Question

I have noticed among Indian people that the little toddler-age girls very often have their hair cropped short. Why is this?

KS, 47, female, Jacksonville

Question

If Catholics don’t believe in contraceptives, how do they keep from having a lot of kids?

Linzi, 17, Selinsgrove, Pa.

Question

Girls: Would you want to know what guys you know have fantasized about you?

Jayarby, male, Philadelphia

Question

Why do a lot of Hispanic women pluck their eyebrows and then draw them on with an eyebrow pencil? And why do they draw a hard lip outline and paste their hair flat with gel?

Ellen, 48, white, Broomfield, Colo.

Question

How come you don’t see minorities in love scenes in the movies and on TV? Is it too taboo?

M.B., male, Pittsburgh

Question

Why are younger teenagers so obsessed with “who likes whom” and call sensible people who don’t care about anything like that gay or geeky?

Brandon, 13, Jacksonville

Question

Why are Southern Christians so nosy and why won’t they take a polite “I’m sorry but I don’t discuss religion” seriously?

Mary, 42, agnostic, Atlanta