Why? you ask...

Any sentence that begins with why triggers my prepare to defend/justify/explain nerve faster that you can say synapse -- alert to the expected judgment, criticism. Sometimes the other person is innocently gathering information, or is sincerely interested in getting to know me and the way my complex and endlessly fascinating mind works. That I will happily sit and discuss – long after your eyes glaze over and start darting desperately toward the door.

But if I’m asked:

Why did you do that?

Why do you do it that way?

The implication is (it's all in the tone of voice) that the questioner thinks that no rational, decent human would do that. And why did I do it that way instead of this way, which makes so much more sense. The short snappy answer is Because I want(ed) to.

After the primitive this bozo must die part of my brain is calmed by the rational frontal lobe, it creeps sheepishly to the back of my cranial cavity, and I am then able to explain. Maybe not to the satisfaction of the questioner -- that's where the defend/justify part comes in, but at least I've put down the knife. Fully composed, with a hint of maniacal glint in my eyes, I turn: Why do you ask?