# 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:** 382
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7624 "2023-10-21T17:53:43Z")
I walked to elementary school, two blocks from home. Depending on the weather, i walked or rode a bicycle to junior high. That was a little more than a mile from my home. The town only provides buses for kids more than 1.5 miles away. Highschool was just over 1.5 miles, so i often took the bus. But i sometimes bicycled, and senior year i often drove. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7625 "2023-10-21T17:55:58Z")
First period was an hour, 0815-0915. The remaining 6 periods were 55 minutes each, xx20-xx15, with five-minute passing periods between classes. (Two periods were divided into two 25-minute segments, with a five-minute passing period between; you’d have lunch during one of the short segments, homeroom during the other, and then a regular 55-minute class during the other period.) Class schedules were the same every day of every week with two exceptions: ROTC and PE alternating days in 10th grade, and ROTC and homeroom/driver’s ed (one semester of each) in 11th. School bus from kindergarten up until the middle of seventh grade.\* We then moved to a city in a different state, and I always walked to school there – 45 minutes each way in 9th grade, and ~15-20 minutes the other years. \* 67 years later, I still hate buses, and will ride one only if I have no oter option. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7626 "2023-10-21T18:02:43Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > no oter option Is “oter” really a word? The spellchecker didn’t flag it as incorrect. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7627 "2023-10-21T18:08:48Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > The question seemed to me to be more “is it possible to think of everything, so you don’t need an “other” option”? At least, that’s how I answered it. But there are some questions where the only possible answers are “yes” and “no”, and there are no other possibilities. And the question was “Is it possible to create a poll that doesn’t require an ‘other’ option”, not “is it possible to construct every poll such that it doesn’t need an ‘other’ option”. So I picked “yes”. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7628 "2023-10-21T18:43:03Z")
The “other” option for the JROTC poll: I have no freaking idea. There may well have been such a program at my school, but if so, it was certainly under my own personal radar; it wouldn’t have been something I or any of my friends would have been interested in. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7629 "2023-10-21T19:02:06Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > Relieving VPs: A Johnson, L B Johnson (2) I remembered these two and Teddy Rosevelt. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7630 "2023-10-21T19:43:34Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > But there are some questions where the only possible answers are “yes” and “no”, and there are no other possibilities. Got a few examples? ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7631 "2023-10-21T19:46:15Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > The “other” option for the JROTC poll: I have no freaking idea. ‘I didn’t go to high school’ would be at least one additional ‘other’ possibility; though it doesn’t apply to me and I actually voted that my high schools didn’t have any of those. Considering that they were all-girls schools in the 1960’s it would have been pretty astonishing if they had. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7632 "2023-10-21T19:52:25Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Got a few examples? _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7632))_ _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7632))_ _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7632))_ ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7633 "2023-10-21T20:02:43Z")
1. Person showed up and tried to vote, but their vote wasn’t accepted. Person voted – in a school’s mock election. 2. Person smoked at least one puff of something shaped like a cigarette, but it wasn’t tobacco. (Or only partly tobacco.) Person smoked a small cigar. 3. People in some cultures have surnames with more than one part; or have an order of names that doesn’t match with the usual order in English-speaking countries, and consider one of their names to be their surname in such countries and another to be their surname in their home language; or don’t have surnames at all. Any of those people might give an “other” answer. ETA: There might possibly be some actual yes-or-no questions, if worded carefully enough. But most things phrased that way aren’t; and at least most of these polls that are phrased that way aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7634 "2023-10-21T20:05:10Z")
The first “reliever” I remembered was Teddy Roosevelt because of that quote about how we now have that goddamned cowboy as president. I walked to and from school through high school starting in kindergarten. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7635 "2023-10-21T20:15:03Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Person showed up and tried to vote, but their vote wasn’t accepted. Person voted – in a school’s mock election. If that person’s vote was not accepted, then that person did not vote. They should answer “no”. A mock election is not the same thing as the 2020 precedential election. That person’s answer should be “no”. > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Person smoked at least one puff of something shaped like a cigarette, but it wasn’t tobacco. The question did not specify that it had to be tobacco. This person should answer “yes”. > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Person smoked a small cigar. A cigar is not a cigarette. This person should answer “no”. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7636 "2023-10-21T20:18:12Z")
If you made the polls, you could clarify in that fashion. I still say that they’re “other” answers. (And “cigarette” literally means “small cigar”.) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7637 "2023-10-21T20:20:04Z")
I don’t dislike flowers per se, but I am allergic to most pollen. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7638 "2023-10-21T20:25:56Z")
Huh. I wanted to vote in the dribbling imbecile poll … but it’s closed. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7639 "2023-10-21T20:31:00Z")
I closed it. See the mod note. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7640 "2023-10-21T20:35:01Z")
I was glad to see the mod note. Thanks! ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7641 "2023-10-21T20:45:05Z")
Yes indeed. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7642 "2023-10-21T23:36:28Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I still say that they’re “other” answers. And to me, just to use the voting one as an example, you either voted or you didn’t. And every unusual scenario you can think of still falls into one of those two categories. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7643 "2023-10-22T01:48:15Z")
“Is it possible to construct a poll on this board which will 100% satisfy ALL nitpickers” I voted no because this is the SDMB. Someone will find a way to nitpick anything. In fact, if you managed to cover every possibility, someone would say “I didn’t know whether to select option A or B because they’re the same thing” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=381) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=383)