# 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:** 31
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2022, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/601 "2022-11-29T17:42:40Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > But it does help to know what the end date is. That’s a great advantage to the no paste option – I can retire early, knowing that my retirement savings only has to last to age 65! ---
**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:** [November 29, 2022, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/602 "2022-11-29T23:04:52Z")
I don’t think I ever have pronounced HVAC. I don’t know how I’d say it if I did. So there’s at least one “other”. ---
**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:** [November 29, 2022, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/603 "2022-11-29T23:16:50Z")
Huh, I’m a couple years older, and i love good food, but i decided that was enough extra years of life to eat the damn paste. ---
**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:** [November 29, 2022, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/604 "2022-11-29T23:21:14Z")
Eating is a sensual pleasure I’d never want to give up, even if it meant I could live longer. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2022, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/605 "2022-11-29T23:32:06Z")
I wanna know why four of the six aperitifs had the same flavor. Almost as bad as the licorice poll 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2022, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/606 "2022-11-29T23:32:34Z")
I would attempt to abide by the paste diet, but I would fail. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/607 "2022-11-30T00:04:31Z")
Whole support groups would spring into existence to help people with the eating issues that would arise. Competing YouTubers would rise to fame as they advocate the “right” order in which to take in the paste and water, or create belief systems around forms of meditation promising to give the paste the taste of real food. People would fucking talk about paste all the time, and there would be retirement communities specifically for Pasters. No pastetopia for me, let me tell you! ---
**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:** [November 30, 2022, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/608 "2022-11-30T04:18:02Z")
Yum, yum, bring on the paste. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/609 "2022-11-30T10:47:55Z")
It’s always tricky to define things in a clear way without writing ten million caveats. To me, if it was very satisfying for you, it was not mediocre, despite there not being acrobatics and mad skillz. And yes, would be interesting to see how gender plays into it. For me, personally, it has also changed with age. When I was younger, anything was exciting or at least experience, now I’m more likely to think: "It’s too much hassle and I’ll have to change the sheets I’ve just washed."🤷 ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/610 "2022-11-30T10:53:11Z")
In the IRL scenario that inspired the poll it’s no strings, no drama (and as explained, no great satisfaction either) with an attractive person. Me, I go back and forth, and the poll was pretty much split l, too. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/611 "2022-11-30T11:43:32Z")
I just can’t see myself as a pasteatarian. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/612 "2022-11-30T13:44:25Z")
I drive most of the time because she drives like a maniac and I can’t take it. ---
**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:** [November 30, 2022, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/613 "2022-11-30T14:47:56Z")
One of my old roommate’s family was Sicilian. He was all about Sambuca. My wife’s family is Neapolitan. Anisette has been a before dinner mainstay for Christmas and Thanksgiving in my house for over twenty years now. I kidded my old roommate about the real difference between Sicily and Naples was really Sambuca versus Anisette, and was treated to a two page treatise of different anise and fennel liqueurs, as he does. Don’t tell my wife, but I prefer Sambuca. Anisette is almost too sweet for me. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/614 "2022-11-30T17:50:27Z")
Here in Padua, Italy, Aperol Spritz is practically a religion. ---
**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:** [November 30, 2022, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/615 "2022-11-30T18:05:24Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I drive most of the time because she drives like a maniac and I can’t take it. “Everyone who drives slower than you is a moron. Everyone who drives faster than you is a maniac!” - George Carlin ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/616 "2022-11-30T18:54:46Z")
So, morning shower thoughts AGAIN, brought me back to the ‘paste’ question, and it was a decidedly dark turn. So I voted for food, and against paste, because good food is one of the great experiences that can be enjoyed largely regardless of social level (although _of course_ it’s easier with more money, and fully a problem if you’re not food secure in the first place). I’m too old to think I’d adapt easily to tasteless food, and too young to feel the bite of the deadline, so I fully acknowledge both of those would make a bigger difference depending on age. And I’m a minor foodie as well. But then came the dark thoughts: we know very little about this paste (I started thinking about ‘The Stuff’ immediately), where does it come from, and more importantly who controls the means of production and distribution? You can literally never eat anything else… so what if Putin or the like controls the supply, even just for his nation? Support me or you all wipe away a quarter of a decade of your LIFE! And assuming paste is a popular choice that leaves out the economic destruction inherent in losing the livelihoods of most food producers, food resellers, restaurants, and the further downstream issues of automatic good health into what would now be extreme old age. Everyone’s going to have to go back to working again until the end - social security would be shot dead by this. And don’t even get me started if our political leadership is even more controlled by the individuals raised generations prior. And that leads us to population issues. Anyway, NONE of this admittedly is within the scope of what is a fun ‘what-if’ poll, but the SDMB is all about bringing up this sort of OMFG, what if it really DID happen, and I had to share. Bwahahahaha! ---
**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:** [November 30, 2022, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/617 "2022-11-30T20:05:15Z")
There are indeed quite a lot of “what-ifs” in the paste poll, and I certainly didn’t consider all the possible implications when I wrote it. I’m glad it’s sparked some interesting comments. I actually took a while to vote in my own poll, but I ultimately chose the paste. I’m closing in on 65 way too fast and I’m definitely not ready to go yet. Even though I never had kids, I absolutely adore my nieces. They have kids if their own now, and the chance to watch those babies grow up and see what they become would be too much to pass up. Not being able to eat good food would be tough, but it’s better than being dead. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/618 "2022-11-30T20:10:46Z")
My partner doesn’t drive, never has done, and isn’t going to start now. So that was easy ! ---
**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:** [November 30, 2022, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/619 "2022-11-30T20:27:59Z")
I’ve always pronounced HVAC High-Vac and never thought there was any other way. ---
**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:** [November 30, 2022, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/620 "2022-11-30T23:46:12Z")
Question 6 seemed fair to me. I don’t know any other German dances. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=30) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=32)