# Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 16, 2024, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636 "2024-02-16T02:56:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 288
**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 19, 2025, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5742 "2025-02-19T16:28:30Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Cats are generally pretty furry and in any case the smaller and more compact body size means it doesn’t take as much energy to keep warm. For this reason alone I’d probably take cat form when sleeping at night, and hopefully save some money on winter heating bills Cats are also very good at relaxing. I figured I’d probably sleep mostly as a cat; but would need to take human form to get me (and the other cats) breakfast, and to do most things during the day. I’d have to figure out whether it was easier to get around the fields in cat form or in human form. Usually I’m carrying stuff, which wouldn’t work well as a cat (though come to think of it, if I turned into a cat who’s the same size I am as a human I could probably work something out), but sometimes I’m just going back and forth. Would my clothes transform into fur and back, though, or would I have to keep getting dressed and undressed every time I changed? ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2025, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5743 "2025-02-19T16:44:17Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Would my clothes transform into fur and back, though, or would I have to keep getting dressed and undressed every time I changed? It’s only you that changes, not your clothes. ---
**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 19, 2025, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5744 "2025-02-19T16:49:07Z")
I can transform into a cat at will, and so conversely I’m also a cat that can transform into a human at will? So I’m like a cat who has the ability to use the can opener. That sounds like every cat’s dream. ---
**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 19, 2025, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5745 "2025-02-19T17:44:18Z")
Ack. So I’d need to strip before transforming into a cat, then; or else find myself tangled up in clothes that I might have trouble getting out of. And I’d need to be careful where I was when I transformed back. Do I turn into a house cat of house cat size, or do I turn into something that looks like a house cat but weighs ~180 lbs, or do I turn into a species of cat that ordinarily has a size range including ~180 lbs? ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2025, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5746 "2025-02-19T18:00:38Z")
You turn into a house cat of normal size. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2025, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5747 "2025-02-19T18:03:54Z")
That idea is like my father, who had traditional male pattern baldness. What he said was “All men are given an equal number of hormones. If you choose to use yours growing hair, that’s your business.” ---
**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 19, 2025, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5748 "2025-02-19T18:57:26Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > You turn into a house cat of normal size. Ah. That would, at least, freak out the rest of the crew less; I suspect if they suddenly found a 180 lb cat in the bedroom they would flee. I think, what with that and the nakedness, that this is mostly going to be useful for sleeping. (I think I understand feline friendliness negotiations well enough to be able to work out, within a few days, cuddling with the others and actually getting some sleep.) I suppose it would also be useful for startling people, if I want to startle anybody that badly; and, if the government does actually show up to take me away, for escaping/convincing them that I’m not here. However if things get that bad I doubt I’d be able to keep supplying cat food. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2025, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5749 "2025-02-19T19:51:54Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > Why do people pronounce it ex-avier? You don’t say em-ichael or bee-ob so why would you pronounce the X as its own letter? What sound does the letter X make? There are so few English words that start with X, it’s not at all obvious what to do with it. ---
**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 19, 2025, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5750 "2025-02-19T23:32:59Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > As far as saving someone’s life, I performed CPR on my father after he had a heart attack. I kept it up until the EMT’s arrived and whisked him off to the hospital. Unfortunately my father fell into a coma from which he never recovered. They tell me that I did keep him alive but ultimately he was too damaged to survive. He passed within 24 hours. My sister took over from our neighbor when her husband fell down their staircase, and the 911 operator had told how to do CPR. She (sister) worked in a hospital and had CPR training. But she was exhausted after a while. She kept it up until the EMTs got there, but there had been too much brain trauma, and he was taken off life support that night. We went with our neighbor as moral support. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > I had a baby tooth knocked out by trauma, long before it was supposed to fall out of its own. I did, too, when I was almost three. I remember it. I fell/jumped off a top bunk bed and landed face first on the linoleum floor. I still have the memory of what it felt like to hit the floor. No residual psychological trauma, though. ---
**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 19, 2025, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5751 "2025-02-19T23:34:12Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > What sound does the letter X make? There are so few English words that start with X, it’s not at all obvious what to do with it Hmmm. I did a quick Google and excepting words with an appended X (like X-ray), all the words I saw, like Xenophobic Xenon Xylophone Xerograph Xanax are all pronounced with a “z” sound. So I’ll turn the question on its head. How many words beginning with x are pronounced “ex” (excepting words where the X is appended or substitutes for a collection of other letters as in Xmas, Xtian, etc.)? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2025, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5752 "2025-02-19T23:44:53Z")
X-ray was my model as a kid, when I didn’t know any of the words on your lust. ---
**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 20, 2025, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5753 "2025-02-20T00:51:04Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I didn’t know any of the words on your lust. That’s because they’re Swedish, baby. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5754 "2025-02-20T08:05:02Z")
Words beginning with X that are brand names, I pronounce with a “ks” sound. You want to call your company Xfinity, fine, you’re “Ks-finity” to me. As a teen I pulled the nine year old son of a family friend out of fast-moving water. I also got him to go in the fast-moving water, and he was wearing a life-vest, so was unlikely to sink. His parents insist I saved his life. Me, I kinda think since I got him to jump in ("I did it, now it’s your turn - it’s fun!') it’s a wash - rescued from (not serious) peril that I caused. ---
**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 20, 2025, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5755 "2025-02-20T12:45:47Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > His parents insist I saved his life. Me, I kinda think since I got him to jump in ("I did it, now it’s your turn - it’s fun!') it’s a wash - rescued from (not serious) peril that I caused. In my family we call that the Curious George Effect: create an issue, solve that very issue, then celebrate! ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5756 "2025-02-20T16:59:28Z")
There was a toilet on a chartered bus my school was using for a field trip somewhere. Naturally (long trip) I had the urge to pee, and chanced to go in… There alas was a gap between the stall and the side of the bus. One of the girls then stuck her hand in there as I was about to undo my belt, and wiggled her fingers. My urge was successfully supressed until we got to where we were going. My class had a nice chuckle about it tho and I took it good-naturedly. ---
**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, 2025, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5757 "2025-02-20T17:32:33Z")
I know I’ve used toilets on the ones I voted for. I don’t remember whether or not I shat in any or all of them. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5758 "2025-02-20T17:59:12Z")
I once performed CPR on somebody until the ambulance arrived. But he then died at the hospital. So I don’t feel that counts as saving a life. At best, I guess I get credit for prolonging his life by about an hour. ---
**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 20, 2025, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5759 "2025-02-20T18:56:10Z")
Back in 2016 I took a trip to East Africa. While it was an amazing trip, I suspect the seafood restaurant I ate at on my last night in Zanzibar wasn’t exactly following safe food handling practices, and I had diarrhea during the entire trip home, and I stupidly packed the anti-diarrhea medication I’d brought in my checked bag (the intestinal distress only began after I checked in for my flight). So I can can definitely say I’ve shat on a plane, multiple times. And I flew into SFO and had to take train back to Sacramento from there, so I shat on a train, too. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2025, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5760 "2025-02-20T19:56:48Z")
Could you, would you, on a train? Would you, could you, in the rain? ---
**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, 2025, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5761 "2025-02-20T20:16:23Z")
I was on an island in NH, about an hour away from the nearest emergency room. A women had an allergic reaction to a yellow jacket sting. We looked, and there were no epi-pens on the island. I suggested she take some Benadryl, which someone had, and she did. She then got a ride to the mainland and the hospital. When she returned, she told me the doctor told her that the Benadryl probably saved her life. So… Maybe? She was fine after recovering, so if it helped, it helped restore her to health. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636.md?page=287) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636.md?page=289)