[Terry Johnson]

Here's a post I've been holding back for a while.  Many of you have shared
experiences of sitting with the band before or after a show and chatting
for what would be an eternity for me.  Having seen the band only once, I
was also fortunate enough to sit with Bones and Rob for a little while and
chat after the show in Kansas City.  However, Pete looked exhausted and
gave only a faint smile on his way to the bus.  After giving up his body
just a little more for some fan photos, he pleaded with folks to just let
him go.  I didn't want a picture with him, I wanted to talk.  I had a
million questions regarding song lyrics and politics and personal history
that I really wanted to ask him, but as tired as he looked I wasn't about
to force myself on him.  But there was one question that had been burning
in me for years that I would ask anyway.

As he turned to say, "no more pictures", to me I quickly asked, "I'm
short-changed by the surfin' priest again?"  I actually said it more as a
statement rather than a question so he would know that it would be my only
question and that I really wanted to know the answer.  He paused in the
doorway of the bus and turned with a look that told me he wished he had
never penned that line.  He replied, "Just a random line, just a random
thought."  And with a smile he stepped down one step and shook my hand
firmly before disappearing into the bus.

I've often wondered after that why I asked *that* particular question.  Of
all the things I could've asked in that brief moment, it seems that one
was the most trivial of all.  However, it was a question I figured he
could answer in a sentence or two (which is all I could ask of him the way
he looked), and if I hadn't it would still be plagueing me to this day!  I
had already asked this group twice if anyone understood it with nary a
response, so I feel justified to make that my one and only question.  But
I still have to wonder what other mysteries I could have learned with two
questions...  :o)

So, what monumental question would you ask or have asked of the members?
I want you to share!

--Terry