# Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 28, 2022, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380 "2022-09-28T11:33:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 108
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/2142 "2023-02-20T16:54:22Z")
“ensure” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/2143 "2023-02-20T19:57:15Z")
I, too, was surprised that so many of those polled (67%, when I just looked) are childless. I would’ve expected a much lower number. I’m glad to have been a parent, and we love our three sons, but I certainly understand that parenthood is not for everyone. I’d rather live in the least-nice house. It’s a lot easier to improve my house than to improve the crappy neighborhood around me. I voted “not flattered” to the handsome/beautiful question. I wouldn’t want to look feminine enough that someone would think to say that to me. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/2144 "2023-02-20T20:13:11Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > but my actual reaction would be puzzlement, and would also have to do with the tone of voice. Yeah. Is it a gay guy telling me he thinks I’m hot even though I’m female? Is it someone intentionally insulting me by implying i look crappy for a woman? Something else? ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/2145 "2023-02-20T20:24:59Z")
I seem to be quite an outlier here, having a 13 year old child. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/2146 "2023-02-20T20:36:18Z")
I didn’t vote in the “nicest house” poll, because it depends a good deal on what “nice” means. Does it mean I’ve got the shaggiest lawn and the worst paint job? Sure, I can live with that. And I probably will have at least the shaggiest lawn, though if I can afford it the paint job will be at least passably kept up. Does it mean the roof’s leaking, the floors are rotting, and nobody can get the stink out of the place because the town sewer keeps backing up into that particular basement? That’s another matter entirely. Does it mean I’ve got three bathrooms in the house in a neighborhood where everybody else has five? I don’t really care either way. Am I intending to sell the place in two years, and can roust the money for paint job etc.? Then I definitely want the worst place on the block, because its value can be increased the most in those couple of years. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/2147 "2023-02-20T20:46:41Z")
I assumed it was asking if you’d rather your neighbors have nicer houses or less nice houses than yours. You are supposed to assume you live in the same house either way. So whether the lawn is mown or the place is mildewed is a constant. It’s just the other houses that vary. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/2148 "2023-02-20T20:51:33Z")
Ah. Well, in that case, I’d like my neighbors to have nicer houses. I like my neighbors. But I’m not confident enough of that interpretation to vote in the poll. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/2149 "2023-02-20T21:31:45Z")
What if it’s a _hot_ carbonated beverage? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/2150 "2023-02-20T21:56:15Z")
why on earth would you blow away carbon dioxide from atop a beverage? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/2151 "2023-02-20T21:59:04Z")
Maybe we are talking about different questions? I’m referring to the one that begins: > For the sake of this question, **the house you reside in is identical in both scenarios.** This includes financial aspects like property taxes and resale value. > > In the first scenario, all of the houses in your vicinity are noticeably better than your house; you have the worst house in the neighborhood. > > In the second scenario, all of the houses in your vicinity are noticeably worse than your house; you have the best house in the neighborhood. (bolding added) ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/2152 "2023-02-20T22:08:04Z")
I didn’t take that to mean “the house is identical to the house you live in now”; but to mean “the house you’d get in scenario 1 is the same as the one you’d get in scenario 2.” So I suppose that if the house were utterly terrible house, that would mean my neighbors’ houses would be either utterly unlivable in one scenario, or at least passable in the other? And if my house were quite a nice house, that would mean my neighbors’ houses would be either reasonably good, or super excellent? OK, I suppose I do want my neighbors’ houses to be better than mine in the first case. If mine’s unlivable but theirs are adequate, maybe I can at least go visit them; if mine’s the only livable house in a neighborhood in which people are dying of poisoned water all around me, that’s a worse situation. If it’s the last case, I don’t suppose it much matters to me either way. So that’s two out of three for better than mine, because if I’ve got a house that’s in some ways in poor shape but suits me OK, then I’d rather they had better houses than mine than that they had houses in even worse shape that might not suit them OK. Maybe I will vote. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/2153 "2023-02-20T22:10:37Z")
Voted two random tablets; though if I hated any of the flavors, I might avoid those, in the hope that the bottle would be too old to use before I had to take them. I don’t usually take antacids, so that would be quite a possible result. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/2154 "2023-02-20T22:18:40Z")
Voted the closest thing to “other”, because in fact, I’m in this situation all the time, and i don’t take two, i take a handful, and eat them like candy. (Tums or generic equivalent.) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/2155 "2023-02-20T22:48:26Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > was surprised that so many of those polled (67%, when I just looked) are childless. I have kids. But I know people who don’t and find “childless” insulting, saying they’re “child free”. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/2156 "2023-02-20T23:01:08Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > But I know people who don’t and find “childless” insulting, saying they’re “child free”. Snowflakes! (if they’re truly insulted and not just joking around) ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/2157 "2023-02-21T00:05:11Z")
I don’t think thats healthy to do. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/2158 "2023-02-21T00:46:47Z")
It’s just like eating chalk mixed with sugar. It’s probably not great, but it’s not very dangerous. I used to eat chalk sometimes as a kid, too. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/2159 "2023-02-21T01:14:27Z")
I thought it says on the label do not take more than such and such a day. Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/2160 "2023-02-21T01:20:40Z")
I’m not convinced antacid tablets are different flavors. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/2161 "2023-02-21T01:21:29Z")
Tums (and other calcium carbonate ones) are. Others aren’t, really. Maybe “vaguely minty”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=107) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=109)