# 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:** 480
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/9583 "2025-12-18T16:37:37Z")
There is a 40" square table in my kitchen’s eat-in space, but these days it’s my Lego assembly surface (and is kept empty/cleared between builds). It’s been used for dining exactly once: the year my father and brother came to my place for Christmas, and we learned that the table is big enough for three people but the eat-in space is not. I live alone, and for as long as I can remember my habit has been to eat in the living room using the coffee table. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/9584 "2025-12-18T16:40:08Z")
Don’t have room for a table in the kitchen so all meals are in the dining room (unless they’re on the sofa in the den, which typically means watching some sporting event.) As for the ~~VCR~~ _very large clock with a small display_, I still have one for two reasons a) it has a clock & b) it’s a pain to get behind the wall unit to remove it. I considered programming it to be resetting the clock after a power blip. I don’t even believe the play tape part works anymore but at least I can glance over & see the time. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2025, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/9585 "2025-12-18T19:14:27Z")
In the obsolete skills poll, I want some credit for playing a phonograph record, reading a print magazine, and using my camera in manual mode. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/9586 "2025-12-18T19:17:33Z")
“The Little Drummer Boy” is one of my favorites. The music is just okay, but the story of a poor kid who has nothing to offer but his music, well, that’s making me tear up right now. ETA: I’m unbothered by “blessings” or “Merry Christmas.” I find it a bit charming when religious people offer benevolent thoughts to me. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/9587 "2025-12-18T19:19:05Z")
“The Little Drummer Boy” now always reminds me of this meme: [![](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/ac/96/d2/ac96d2d3b67f55577ac6cb68087905fb.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/ac/96/d2/ac96d2d3b67f55577ac6cb68087905fb.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/9588 "2025-12-18T19:21:39Z")
That’s hilarious. But in his defense, in the song, Mary is digging it. I’m assuming this is just a snare doing the low rolling sound. Nothing too crazy. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/9589 "2025-12-18T19:25:38Z")
Also, it’s not as bad, as far as an inappropriate gift, as this line from “Do You Hear What I Hear?”: > [@](#): > > A child, a child shivers in the cold > Let us bring Him silver and gold Maybe a _ **blanket** _ would be a more suitable gift?? ---
**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:** [December 18, 2025, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/9590 "2025-12-18T19:27:29Z")
None of those _quite_ cover my reaction. To a relatively straightforward rendering of Little Drummer Boy: Nice, a modern Christmas song I don’t actively hate. To a jazzed-up version recorded by someone who feels compelled to put out a Christmas album but has nothing to add: Make it stop. Kill it with fire. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2025, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/9591 "2025-12-18T19:29:41Z")
I like the versions by Bob Segar and Kansas (?). ---
**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:** [December 18, 2025, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/9592 "2025-12-18T19:31:41Z")
My reaction to The Drummer Boy would be mild annoyance: which isn’t on the list. And I left off researching obscure information because I assumed they didn’t mean on line. If they’re including researching obscure things online, I do that quite a lot. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/9593 "2025-12-18T19:35:08Z")
I still drive a car with a manual transmission pretty much every day, as my “daily driver” is my 2012 Mustang…which has 144,000 miles on its original clutch and transmission. I fully expect that, when the day comes that I sell it, I’ll never again drive a stick. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/9594 "2025-12-18T19:46:29Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > always reminds me of this meme: **🤣 😂 🤣 😂** ---
**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:** [December 18, 2025, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/9595 "2025-12-18T20:26:54Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > In the obsolete skills poll, I want some credit for playing a phonograph record… Given how vinyl records have come back into fashion in recent years, I’m not sure if that can be considered an obsolete skill anymore. I mean, my younger sister has a record player in her home that she uses regularly (she’s in her early 40s). ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/9596 "2025-12-18T20:58:28Z")
I push the “down” button, because according to _[The Order of the Stick](https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0012.html)_, in order to go up a level, we have to go down a level. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2025, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/9597 "2025-12-18T21:01:25Z")
I fear meeting a steam shovel named Mary Anne in the basement. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2025, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/9598 "2025-12-18T21:02:57Z")
I’d love to meet Mike and Mary-Anne. That was my sons’ favorite book when they were little. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2025, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/9599 "2025-12-18T21:07:31Z")
I press the “up” button, because I mostly only use elevators to go up. If I’m going down I typically just take the stairs, because I’m too impatient to wait around for the elevator, unless I’m on a really high floor. And by really high floor I mean like the Sears Tower Skydeck or something. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2025, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/9600 "2025-12-18T21:12:38Z")
I have been systematically picking the first choice in the button polls, regardless of text…I’m a top-button kinda guy, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/9601 "2025-12-18T21:24:13Z")
In all the button polls- where pushing one or the other kills people, I simply refuse to push. I am not going to be responsible for random peoples deaths. > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > My reaction to The Drummer Boy would be mild annoyance: which isn’t on the list. My reaction is- _Hey, I used to love that song_- the first time I hear it. Each time after that it gets more and more annoying. No good choices on that poll. > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I still drive a car with a manual transmission pretty much every day, We have a C30 with stick, which used to be my daily driver. Sadly arthritis in my knees made me get a automatic tranny car, so my wife drives the Volvo now. > [@Dr.Drake](#): > > To a relatively straightforward rendering of Little Drummer Boy: Nice, a modern Christmas song I don’t actively hate. > To a jazzed-up version recorded by someone who feels compelled to put out a Christmas album but has nothing to add: Make it stop. Kill it with fire. At least the first time I hear it. But yeah- Original or nothing. And I apologize for my poll- first time I did one- it could have been better. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2025, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/9602 "2025-12-18T21:27:40Z")
For the various do this/don’t do this or people die. Fuck them. It’s meaningless. If some god-like entity is making everyone play games, then why believe for a second it’s going to abide by it’s rules. Don’t play the game. Give the unspeakable entity the finger and treat the choice with the disrespect it deserves. Regarding Merry Xmas and blessings. I in general have a mild dislike of it. Because as I’ve said in several other threads, even if it’s intended as a genuine good faith well-wish, it’s still got baked in assumptions that the giver’s belief system is the one responsible for good wishes/blessings. Again, in good faith, very minor irritation, and I just nod and smile. In some areas and with some individuals, it ISN’T a good faith well-wish, something that happens more than I like here in very Church-friendly Colorado Springs, and then it gets my hackles up. So most of the time minor dislike, and more than occasionally a burning hatred that could power an old fashioned steam plant. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636.md?page=479) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636.md?page=481)