Well, other people may not have missed these stories; they may have been too busy to really notice, didn't have sufficient curiosity, or lacked the motivation to ask the obvious question. See a building being torn down? Ask why. A street person asks for money because he says the homeless shelter turned him away? Hmm, that's interesting. Spot your pharmacist taking a drug off the shelves in armloads? What the heck is going on?

Go ahead: Ask.