Alexa, what's the Question of the Day?

If, like me, you own an Amazon smart speaker like an Echo or a Dot, you may have, at one time or another, played "Question of the Day."

Actually, you probably haven't. It seems like one of the more obscure little trivia games buried within the Alexa virtual assistant software.

I happen to play it almost every day, usually in the morning when I'm emptying the dishwasher.

Unlike the headline to this post, though, I never call it the Question of the Day. I always say, "Alexa, what's my Question of the Day," as if the people at Amazon spend countless hours coming up with trivia questions to ask me specifically.

I choose to believe this is true.

Anyway, as you might imagine, the Question of the Day can pertain to just about anything, from Disney movies to obscure African countries. The questions range in difficulty based on the number of points they're worth, from 1 to 8.

If you get the initial Question of the Day right, Alexa congratulates you and tells you you've earned a bonus question. Very politely, she asks, "Would you like to answer it now?"

I cannot imagine a scenario where the answer is "no, I'm good." Of course I want to answer the bonus question now, Alexa. And I also want to know how many days in a row I've played the game, and how many points I've accumulated all time (she will tell you both).

Whether or not you earn a bonus question, you're then treated to a little two-minute Question of the Day podcast in which hosts Murray Horowitz and Tamika Smith give you more detail around that day's main question. It's always interesting, and their corny jokes and awkwardly forced banter make it even better.

Why do I bring this all up? Well, for one thing, when you're blogging every day, you're liable to touch on just about anything about which you may know a little something. But it's also to point out that I take an illogical amount of pride in answering these little questions.

Because I do answer most of them correctly. And when I get one wrong, I don't even want to hear Murray and Tamika's podcast. "Alexa, stop!" I'm snap at her when I answer incorrectly and grumpily finish the task of putting silverware back into the drawer.

I hate, hate, hate getting the Question of the Day wrong.

This is dumb, I know, but it is my personality. I am competitive, and the person with whom I am most competitive is myself.

I can't stand losing to me.

All of which suggests that maybe the Question of the Day is not the healthiest activity for me. But I will continue playing, and I will continue taking unwarranted joy when I nail an answer.

It's the little things in life, folks.