# 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:** 161
**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:** [April 5, 2023, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3202 "2023-04-05T03:22:21Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > I’m surprised so many people would simply walk out of a restaurant if they got the wrong food. As long as the staff is nice about it and they make a reasonable effort to right the wrong (which I think they did in the hypothetical), I can forgive the mistake. Restaurants are run by human beings, after all. Quoted for truth. – I haven’t had a martini in long enough that I have no idea which one I’d prefer. And I don’t think I’ve tried some of those variations at all. Did not feel the need to vote in that one. ---
**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:** [April 5, 2023, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3203 "2023-04-05T03:44:50Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > I’m surprised so many people would simply walk out of a restaurant if they got the wrong food. Me, too. I’m going to wait even longer if i go somewhere else. I’ve walked out of a restaurant after being told the wait is longer than I’m willing to wait. And i once walked out of a restaurant after being seated because it was unclear if they would ever take our order. But a restaurant that is trying to serve me has never done anything bad enough that i got up and left. And I have been served the wrong dish, or a dish that has an element i asked them to leave out (and that prevents me from eating the dish) from time to time. ---
**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:** [April 5, 2023, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3204 "2023-04-05T04:38:29Z")
Not only do I think that aphorism is wrong, but I never heard it before. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3205 "2023-04-05T04:55:50Z")
I’d heard the trope from a friend (eldest sibling in her family) who complained that her younger sister was much more popular than her and apparently she herself had learned it from some sort of prevailing cultural notion - in her own words, “the eldest is doomed to be sidelined while the men all flock to the younger.” I don’t think there was any hostility at all between the two, but her envy or sadness was palpable. And there were novels such as Madeleine Brent’s _The Capricorn Stone_ in which the protagonist is the more homely-looking woman who has never had luck in relationships while her younger sister is prettier, more passionate, etc. Even in the Bible, Leah and Rachel are a trope of this. And another friend of mine (again, eldest daughter) said her younger sister was her heroine and role model, and also the younger got married earlier than the elder, ditto for quite a few other similar such sister-and-sister situations in my church. ---
**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:** [April 5, 2023, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3206 "2023-04-05T11:33:59Z")
We mow a lot of grass and it is complicated. Our lawn tractor burns diesel, but now our push mowers are both battery powered, as are our weed wackers. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3207 "2023-04-05T13:10:28Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Not only do I think that aphorism is wrong, but I never heard it before. > [@Velocity](#): > > I’d heard the trope Trope it may be, but “aphorism” is definitely the wrong word. ---
**Author:** ![TruePisces](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/truepisces/32/13628_2.png) [@TruePisces](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruePisces)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3208 "2023-04-05T13:49:25Z")
For all that I am the more serious older sister and my little sister was more popular (seriously, she was like a bright, adorable little doll that everyone loved,) I voted no because I know as many where the opposite is true as those that prove the trope. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3209 "2023-04-05T14:51:04Z")
I am both more serious and more popular. ---
**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:** [April 5, 2023, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3210 "2023-04-05T15:11:38Z")
I’m the youngest. I was never popular. I’m also the only one who never got married. I haven’t noticed any particular pattern among anybody I know. @Velocity, if people in your social group talk about this a lot, it may be somewhat a self-fulfilling prophecy within that group. Or people may notice the families that do appear to work that way, but not notice all the ones that don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3211 "2023-04-05T15:50:22Z")
My wife is the older of two sisters. She is definitely the introvert while her younger sis is very gregarious and outgoing. This proves nothing, of course. And I don’t know enough pairs of sisters to either agree or disagree with the trope. I do think there’s a grain of truth in birth-order stereotypes, though. I’m the middle of three boys and I was _totally_ a Peter Brady when I was growing up. There’s a guy on Instagram who posts funny videos of himself as three brothers, wearing t-shirts that say “oldest,” “middle,” and “youngest.” My wife and my brother’s wife often laugh over how closely he nails all three of our personalities. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3212 "2023-04-05T16:02:20Z")
There was a parody news segment that was popping up on my Facebook feed a while back about how the youngest child was The Worst. At the sign off, the anchor looks at the camera and says, “I was a middle child, but enough about me.” Whenever my wife and our oldest commiserate about being the oldest child, I’ll often butt in with that quip. The littlest Magill (for now) will often pop in to remind us all that he’s perfect. _Perfect._ ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3213 "2023-04-05T16:04:01Z")
We have an electric mower and 2 gas mowers. I use the electric because the self-propelled gas one is too heavy for me. Our weed whacker is battery operated and the rest of the rakes, shovels, and implements of destruction are manual. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3214 "2023-04-05T16:09:39Z")
I just finished (last weekend) having my entire yard replaced by xeriscaping and a metric buttload of river rock. I’m not going to have a use for my weed-whacker anymore. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3215 "2023-04-05T17:35:05Z")
In recent years I’ve been having more and more difficulty bending down to reach my toes with precision. So I’ve started getting pedicures. Such a luxury! ---
**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:** [April 5, 2023, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3216 "2023-04-05T17:37:29Z")
My 90 year old uncle got regular pedicures. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3217 "2023-04-05T18:18:38Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I’m not going to have a use for my weed-whacker anymore. You will once the liner wears out and the weeds start poking up through the rocks, the pernicious little bastards. ---
**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:** [April 5, 2023, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3218 "2023-04-05T18:32:29Z")
I wouldn’t get a manicure or a pedicure if you paid me. Just contemplating it gives me the willies. ---
**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:** [April 5, 2023, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3219 "2023-04-05T18:56:37Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I wouldn’t get a manicure or a pedicure if you paid me. Same here. I was wondering what rich people like Trump do. Or real rich people. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3220 "2023-04-05T20:17:05Z")
Spoilered so as not to influence those who have not yet voted in the “gopher guts” poll: I’m not positive, but as near as I can remember, it was “great green **gobs** …” (not “globs”). ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3221 "2023-04-05T20:22:01Z")
Yeah, there seems to be dozens of variations of the gopher guts song, which isn’t surprising given that is transmitted mostly orally. The version I learned was Great big gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts Mutilated monkey meat Dirty little birdies’ feet French-fried eyeballs swimming in a pool of blood Oops, I dropped my spoon [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=160) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=162)