Questions, Questions...

I need to learn how to ask questions.

I've come to this conclusion over the last several days, having conversations with various co-workers. I'll ask questions, such as, "what is the default value for this flag supposed to be?" and get a response like, "well, if it looks like a bug, file it." Thanks, how can I do that? I don't know what's supposed to happen, so I can't tell when something is wrong. Or, there was a situation where an intern asked me about what a particular menu item does. Now, the menu item in question appears to me to be from a custom package, but since I'm still learning my way around, I asked the local expert whether or not the package was custom or default. And got a dissertation that had nothing to do with the default-ness of the package.

These aren't isolated instances, either. I'm wondering if it has to do with the training levels of the people with whom I'm interacting. Many of the folk around here have doctorates, and those are the people that most often fail to answer the questions I ask. Devs give me a black-and-white answer to a black-and-white question, or explain to me why a question really isn't black-and-white (I love my Devs). Everyone else assumes that I'm asking a multispectral question and never gets around to actually giving me the info I need. Heaven knows I'm not a black-and-white kind of guy, but this is ridiculous!