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Take Our Poll

Take Our Poll

One other interesting quality about lists is that you know what you’re getting into when you read a subject line. Maybe you read the first item or two and then decide if it’s a list worth reading in full.

I figure that there’s an ideal list length for everything, and I intend to find out what works best. To contribute to this, please vote below, pretending that you just stumbled upon a blog with X number of pieces of advice on a certain topic. When it comes to advice, do you want a short list that boils the advice down to a few key points–3 or 5 items–or a longer, more comprehensive list–7 or 10 items? I’m not including all numbers because I don’t think our brains are made to make choices between that many items.

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Thanks, and I’ll post similar polls on different topics in upcoming weeks (i.e., maybe you prefer short lists of advice but long lists of humor or recommendations, and so on). If you have any topics that would apply to this experiment, let me know.

I’ve noticed over time that if I don’t write about an entry when I’m really excited about it, I don’t use it. Over time, it gets pushed to the bottom of the Truthbits list and I don’t even think to write about it. (There are other entries that seem funny when I originally think of them–like the photo of the dump my cat took in my car yesterday–that I later reconsider and never post.)

Today I’d like to give you the opportunity to vote on some of those entries that keep getting pushed back. You can choose multiple entries or none at all. I’ll check back on the poll at the end of the week to see which ones seem interesting to you. Also, I’m just going to post the notes that I made for each of these entries without any further explanation to add to the intrigue.

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Trevor was pumping iron at a gym a few weeks ago. Several times while he was there, he opened and held doors for people, including two guys. That’s just the type of person Trevor is–always looking out for others, often putting them first.

Trevor observed, as he has several times in the past, that the reactions of the two guys when he held the door open for them were startlingly different. One of the guys was gracious and appreciative, while the other seemed angry that Trevor had provided this courtesy.

Trevor theorizes that that second guy felt emasculated by the gesture. He’s curious what the general population thinks about this, especially guys (ladies, you can represent the nearest male to you right…wait for it…now!) I’ve posted the poll below so you can cast your vote. Think carefully, as this might impact the next 60 years of Trevor’s door-holding life (yes, I have him pegged to pass away at 88. That’ll give him plenty of time to do what he has to do).

My personal take on this is that I don’t think it’s emasculating and I definitely don’t think anyone should be offended by such a gesture. Chivalry in all forms is underrated and underused. However, my personal preference is that a guy pulling a door open should first enter himself if he’s with another guy.

Also, in the comments section, feel free to discuss where you draw the line with masculinity. What acts are okay? Opening a jar? Lifting something? Doing your taxes? Giving you a sponge bath?

Today I was walking across my gated parking lot to the back door of my apartment building when I noticed something strange. There was a two-door car parked near the door–I’ve seen this car before, and it belongs in the spot where it was parked–with the passenger-side door wide open.

I didn’t go over to the car, but I was standing only a few feet away, and there was no one in or around the car. Nor was anyone in the vicinity carrying anything over to the door (having propped the door open). There seemed to be no plausible reason why the door was open.

In fact, 3 hours later, the car door is still open. I can see it from my back window. In fact, I even took a very fuzzy photo:

My question to you is: What would you have done? I’ve left the poll below open in case you would have done something that I didn’t think of.

Note that these results are based on the assumption that 30 people voted on this poll (the top result got 29 votes, so I’m adding on for posterity).

What You’re Allowed to Do at Your Bachelor Party

1. Hang out with friends and have a few beers (97% of respondents)
2. Go to a strip club (80%)
3. Get a lap dance (67%)
4. Get a private stripper for your party (53%)

What You’re Not Allowed to Do at Your Bachelor Party

1. Sleep with another woman (3%)
2. Make out with another woman (3%)
3. Consume substances you ordinarily would not (23%)
4. Dance provocatively with another woman (33%)

What’s really interesting to me is the way we perceive non-strippers versus their stripper counterparts. A professional strips down to a floss-thin g-string and rubs all over you? That’s fine. A fully clothed woman comes up to you at a club and starts to grind on you? No way, Jose. You’ve gone too far. (Sidenote: What did Jose ever do that was so wrong? Josh–answer.)

I don’t know how closely you watched the votes come in, but there’s something else interesting hidden in the numbers. From a cursory glance, it looks like the same person approved both sleeping and making out with another woman. But no–those were two separate voters. That means that unless someone was joking around, there’s a guy out there who thinks that it’s okay to sleep with another woman at his bachelor party but not kiss her. Mystery voter, could you explain?

Overall, I think we have a solid understanding of what the standard rules for bachelor parties are. The private stripper is on the borderline, but the rest are pretty clear. Gentlemen, feel free to refer to this when you’re talking to your girlfriend about this special night.

You’re walking through your neighborhood on a hot, sunny day when you come across a kid with two pitchers of lemonade sitting on crates on the sidewalk. There’s a little sign between the crates that says, “Lemonade, $0.99 and $1.00.” If you have a only a dollar bill in your pocket, and you don’t know if the kid will give you change, which lemonade do you buy?

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I ask this because I’m fascinated by our $0.99 culture. Why is it that we are more inclined to purchase something at that price than $1.00? They’re virtually the same price. And $0.99 simply looks bigger. You’ve got the number 99 in there! That’s huge! That’s much bigger than 1!

Is it simply because we’ve come to accept $0.99 as the standard for things–particularly digital things–like iTunes songs? Or is it something built into our brains, some residual DNA left over from the days of cavemen when you’d much rather encounter .99 sabertooth tigers than 1?

With all due respect to $0.99, I’d like to think that some people would consider the extra cent required to get to $1.00 an increase in value. Why pay $0.99 for a new shoelace when you could pay $1.00 and get one that’s going to last 1% longer?

Let me know what you think about this. I’m working on pricing for the startup, and I’m trying to figure out if I should price things at the slightly unweildy, uneven $0.99 level or the clean, simple, but pschologically daunting $1.00 level.