# 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:** 97
**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:** [February 8, 2023, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1922 "2023-02-08T22:39:31Z")
I really need an option for clicking more than one age. Staying up for days isn’t common for me, but it’s been distributed across all of those age categories. ---
**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:** [February 9, 2023, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1923 "2023-02-09T01:31:03Z")
When I was an advisor with an Explorer Post, the kids wanted to do a Wake-a-thon (or Sleep-a-thon?) as a fund raiser. It’s just like running a race for charity – you get sponsors to pay by the hour. We stayed up all night, after being awake all day, then I decided (unwisely) to drive home. I literally had to stop by the side of the road when I was within a mile of my house. Twice. I could not stay awake longer than 10 or 20 seconds. I was in my early 40s. Too old for that shit. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2023, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1924 "2023-02-09T02:28:37Z")
I asked about jury duty because I’m going to be 46 in a couple of months and I’ve still never been contacted about it yet. I’ve voted since age 19, so it’s obviously not connected to the urban legend that only voters get jury duty… ---
**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:** [February 9, 2023, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1925 "2023-02-09T10:49:07Z")
I didn’t get any jury summonses until I was 30 – being in the navy the bulk of my 20s was the stopper then. After that in Santa Clara county I got one every two years like clockwork. About five in Maricopa county. I’ve been through almost every outcome. - I’ve been told not to show up the next day after all. - I’ve gone in, spent the whole day on the jury pool room and not been a venireman. - I’ve been a venireman in the courtroom but not drawn as juror. - I’ve been a juror where the defendant pled guilty after we were selected but before even the opening statements were made (criminal). - I’ve been a juror where the judge dismissed the case after the prosecution made its case but not the defense (criminal). - I’ve been a juror that heard the case and reached a verdict (civil). About the only experiences I can think of that I haven’t had is being seated then excused after a challenge by either side and a deadlocked jury. By far, being called to not come in the next day is the most common. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2023, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1926 "2023-02-09T15:11:35Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > About the only experiences I can think of that I haven’t had is being seated then excused after a challenge by either side and a deadlocked jury. I’ve been through both of these. I was in a _voir dire_ where the judge obviously expected to go through a lot of jury candidates before seating the jury. So, we were lined up six at a time, the questioning was kept brief, and if the juror was acceptable, they were quickly seated in the jury box. From the questioning, the case was obviously a drug case, but not selling or buying, instead it was one where the defendant’s son sold marijuana out of her house (this was before legalization, but NORML was already publicly calling for reform). One of the questions asked (it’s always the last question, asked by the prosecutor) was whether the prospective juror was capable of rendering a verdict if they disagreed with the law on the drug. Most of the juror’s gave some variation of “the law is the law until it’s changed, so I would base my verdict on the law”. My turn comes. And the question comes. I’m ready with the standard answer, but as I’m preparing to answer, a deep sense of fatigue washes over me. I mean bone deep _tired_. I then spend at least 2-3 minutes talking about the futility of the current drug laws, the lives wasted in incarceration, and the damage to society. I trail off, and then finish with, “But the law is the law and as a juror I think I could base my verdict on the law”. The judge tells me to take a seat in the jury box, I stand up, and before I can take a step, the prosecutor says, “We thank and dismiss this juror.” And that was how I ended spending the rest of the day in the jury room. ---
**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 9, 2023, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1927 "2023-02-09T17:49:10Z")
I want to summarize the movie talking poll, because I find it hard to read the way Discourse displays the results, and I’m somewhat interested in how others feel about this. So here goes, to date. I gave the % and number of voters for the categories listed, and I tried to pick up the other voters who approved of something broader in the +x. So, if 8 people said “x is okay during the feature” and two didn’t vote that, but said “x is okay at any time”, I wrote (8) +2. No guarantees I counted everything accurately, but this is close: Once the feature starts: Zero talking: 49% (27) + 6 Very minimal, hushed talking: 16% (9) Some quiet talking: 1% (1) Speaking at a normal volume: 0 During trailers: Zero talking 10% (6) Very minimal hushed talking: 41% (23) + 3 at any time Some quite talking: 25% (14) +1 at any time Normal volume when you want 3% (2) Before the trailers: Zero talking: 0 Very minimal hushed: 5% (3) Some quiet talking okay 25% (14) +1 Normal volume when you want: 21% (12) + 2 ---
**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 9, 2023, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1928 "2023-02-09T17:55:15Z")
I’ve been known to quietly make a snide comment or two to my wife or an adjacent friend occasionally during a movie. ---
**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 9, 2023, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1929 "2023-02-09T18:28:07Z")
As far as I’m concerned, the day begins when I wake up in the morning. Whether I picked a bench or a jury trial if I were charged with a crime would depend on the crime. The more shocking and heinous (assuming the judge didn’t have a mean reputation), the more likely I would be to pick a bench trial. I’d rather have a seen-it-all judge than a jury which might be vengeful. I prefer my eggs scrambled, but have no particular objection to over-easy. I’ve been summonsed for jury duty a half-dozen times but, to my disappointment, have never actually served on a case. The closest I’ve gotten was twice being seated in the courtroom and briefly questioned before being excused (once because there were enough people already to make up the jury, and the other due to a peremptory challenge - don’t know why for sure, but I have a pretty good idea). I’ve dealt with juries for decades over the course of my career, and would love to see the process from the inside someday. Jurors are around here are drawn from the voter rolls, BTW. I know some people who receive a summons every two years, regular as clockwork; I know others, registered to vote just as long, who have never been summonsed even once. I’ve never tipped either a vending machine or a cow. Harry Truman was left-handed at birth but was taught to write with his right hand. From what I’ve read, it wasn’t done cruelly. The longest I was ever awake in one stretch was maybe 26 hours or so, in high school, for a marathon AD&D game. We had a lot of fun but man, was I _tired_ at the end of it! > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > > [@suranyi](#): > > > > I was once an alternate juror. I had to sit through the whole trial, but could not participate in deliberations. > > This happened to me as well. I didn’t know I was an alternate until just before we (they) were dismissed to deliberate… I know Vermont does it that way. The reasoning is that it encourages all jurors to pay attention, with the alternates not thinking in the back of their minds, “I probably won’t even be called upon to deliberate, so eh, what the hell, I guess I could zone out a bit…” > [@Velocity](#): > > …I would love to be an accountant, reading the balance sheets and typing up the assets, liabilities and depreciation while a menacing 30-inch long lizard from Cambodia is perched atop my curved Samsung monitor screen, checking to see if my net present value calculations are correct Perhaps you might like being a lion tamer even more?: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnXbn1ucTNY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnXbn1ucTNY) ---
**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:** [February 9, 2023, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1930 "2023-02-09T19:20:52Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Whether I picked a bench or a jury trial if I were charged with a crime would depend on the crime. The more shocking and heinous (assuming the judge didn’t have a mean reputation), the more likely I would be to pick a bench trial. I’d rather have a seen-it-all judge than a jury which might be vengeful. Yes a bench trial would be best in situations where the prosecution can play on the jury’s emotions. But I would also have to take into account if it’s an appointed or elected judge. ---
**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 9, 2023, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1931 "2023-02-09T19:38:12Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Whether I picked a bench or a jury trial if I were charged with a crime would depend on the crime. Yup. Also who the judge and the jury pool were likely to be. ---
**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:** [February 9, 2023, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1932 "2023-02-09T19:39:10Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Whether I picked a bench or a jury trial if I were charged with a crime would depend on the crime. The more shocking and heinous (assuming the judge didn’t have a mean reputation), the more likely I would be to pick a bench trial. I’d rather have a seen-it-all judge than a jury which might be vengeful. Yeah, I picked bench trial in the poll, but it really depends on what crime I’m charged with, whether or not I’m actually guilty of that crime, and what my lawyer advises. I picked bench trial mainly because I’ve heard that’s generally the best option if you’re truly innocent, and I don’t think I’ll be committing and crimes in the foreseeable future. ---
**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:** [February 9, 2023, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1933 "2023-02-09T19:43:49Z")
IIRC, a jury trial generally only helps if you’re a defendant who is technically guilty but has a very sympathetic story. For instance, abuse victims who murder their abusers. That could win over a jury. ---
**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:** [February 9, 2023, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1934 "2023-02-09T20:31:32Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > I trail off, and then finish with, “But the law is the law and as a juror I think I could base my verdict on the law”. I, on the other hand, would skip the tirade and simply and honestly say, “I believe that [jury nullificatio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification_in_the_United_States)n is still a valid concept,” then be surprised if the prosecutor did not challenge. ---
**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:** [February 9, 2023, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1935 "2023-02-09T22:50:40Z")
Bleu cheese dressing is marvelous, but **only** if it is the real thing. Hand-made, not some processed crap you got at the grocery store. On a wedge salad with a sprinkling of pieces of real bacon and some Maytag crumbles. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2023, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1936 "2023-02-09T23:28:06Z")
Regarding jury duty, I’ve never been called up yet. I think they must know I have a high EQ. Regarding blue cheese, I steer clear of it. I am allergic to several molds so I am very careful with aged cheese. Oddly, I can do most rind cheeses okay, but blue has set me off in the past so I avoid it like crazy. When a recipe calls for blue cheese, I use chevre, which I also like better, especially with steak. ---
**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:** [February 10, 2023, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1937 "2023-02-10T00:57:56Z")
I don’t like bleu cheese and I don’t like salad dressing! ---
**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 10, 2023, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1938 "2023-02-10T02:37:08Z")
I’d eat _good_ bleu cheese dressing right now with a spoon. Now my tea, I first pour hot water to warm my cup/pot and use my cozy. Then I pour water and dunk my bag/ball/. Although if I use a strainer I pour the water through the tea in the strainer. ---
**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 10, 2023, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1939 "2023-02-10T02:39:18Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > I don’t like bleu cheese and I don’t like salad dressing! I’m reading all kinds of hostility here. Maybe talk with someone about your anger and ways to manage it? We’ve lost far too many at the salad bar. ---
**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:** [February 10, 2023, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1940 "2023-02-10T03:11:51Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > I don’t like bleu cheese and I don’t like salad dressing! If you give me all your bleu cheese dressing I’ll give you all my beets, circus peanuts, sweet potatoes, kale, and Vegemite. mmm ---
**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:** [February 10, 2023, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1941 "2023-02-10T03:25:12Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > If you give me all your bleu cheese dressing I’ll give you all my beets, circus peanuts, sweet potatoes, kale, and Vegemite. If you have beets, circus peanuts, sweet potatoes, kale, and Vegemite available for trade, I can already see the problem. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=96) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=98)