# 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:** 64
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2024, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/1262 "2024-05-03T20:30:32Z")
I clicked bear but it all depends- on a well traveled trail where you would expect to see another hiker every so often? Human. Depp in the California woods- bear- because I love to see wildlife, and a human where none is expect could turn out weird. And CA black bears are pretty mellow- that doesnt mean I wouldn’t be careful, and keep a good distance. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2024, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/1263 "2024-05-03T20:46:35Z")
I’d rather encounter a man. I KNOW about how humans act, sneaky, mean and treacherous. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2024, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/1264 "2024-05-03T20:46:49Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Depp in the California woods… I’m sure Amber Heard would prefer a bear. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2024, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/1265 "2024-05-04T02:01:30Z")
“Other” - as a first pass I’d write my own autobiography, but then I’d want an editor to propose rewrites. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2024, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/1266 "2024-05-04T07:12:42Z")
Do you all not encounter random men all the time? I was hiking yesterday and saw two random men. One at the side of the trail pruning his olive trees, and the other hiking the same trail in the other direction. (The trail went through both woods and cultivated land.) I smiled and nodded at both. The farmer smiled back, the other guy was too focused on going uphill to really notice me. If either had been a bear, i would have been at least a little alarmed. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2024, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/1267 "2024-05-04T07:14:53Z")
As for reading, i guess there are different meaning to the word. If you tell me your child is learning to read, i don’t count audio books. If i want to discuss a book with you, I’m totally indifferent to whether you read it or listened to it, and night be sloppy and use the word “read” either way ---
**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:** [May 4, 2024, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/1268 "2024-05-04T11:02:00Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Do you all not encounter random men all the time? This was my thought. I have encountered many, many random men while walking in the woods. I have never encountered a random bear. mmm ---
**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:** [May 4, 2024, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/1269 "2024-05-04T11:09:28Z")
I think a man who took too much interest in me would be alarming. But so would a bear that took too much interest in me. If either was just minding his own business, I’d be more likely to photograph the bear, though. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2024, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/1270 "2024-05-04T12:03:51Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Do you all not encounter random men all the time? No! But I hike in the woods around our home, not public trails. I’m either on our property or the property of people we know and “share” the woods with. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2024, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/1271 "2024-05-04T12:48:28Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > As for reading, i guess there are different meaning to the word. Yes. Whether I consider listening to an audiobook to be “reading” kind of depends on the context, but since the only choices were “Yes” and “No,” I answered “Yes.” I have no qualms about counting books I’ve listened to in audio form as books I have read, if what I listened to was the full text (as opposed to an abridgement or dramatization) and I was paying attention all the way through. On the other hand, reading and listening _are_ different experiences, and if I liked (or disliked) a book that I listened to, the narrator’s performance might be part of the reason why. So I don’t feel right about saying “I read…” with no disclaimer if I actually listened to it rather than reading it with my own eyes. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2024, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/1272 "2024-05-04T13:14:32Z")
Encounter a random man ? I **am** a random man !! ---
**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:** [May 4, 2024, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/1273 "2024-05-04T15:08:57Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > “Other” - as a first pass I’d write my own autobiography, but then I’d want an editor to propose rewrites. I think I was assuming there’d be an editor involved. We don’t usually say that somebody didn’t write something because an editor was involved in the process. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Do you all not encounter random men all the time? Yeah, I was kind of thinking that. Even on my own property, I get lost people turning around and sometimes asking for directions; and occasionally, though less often than I used to, hunters in season wandering in from the railroad tracks or from the property of neighbors who don’t post their land. If I were hiking somewhere else – and when I used to hike other places – if it’s legal for me to be hiking there, it’s legal for other people to do so, no? Some trails are more crowded than others; but I certainly encountered strangers on even less crowded ones, and sometimes they were unaccompanied men. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > As for reading, i guess there are different meaning to the word. If you tell me your child is learning to read, i don’t count audio books. If i want to discuss a book with you, I’m totally indifferent to whether you read it or listened to it, and night be sloppy and use the word “read” either way Yeah, I agree with that. I don’t listen to audiobooks because I lose track; I keep track much better of what I’m reading visually than of what I hear. But that doesn’t apply to everybody. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2024, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/1274 "2024-05-04T15:44:32Z")
As far as the benefactor giving me the services of one professional: handyman, for certain. I’m mechanically disinclined, and having someone on-call to do household projects and minor repairs would be awesome. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2024, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/1275 "2024-05-04T16:05:26Z")
the offer was tough. I’d love a personal trainer, but I don’t think I’d need one for the rest of my life. A chef would be great. I ended up with “maid.” What I’d really like is a gardener to take care of the yard. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2024, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/1276 "2024-05-04T18:08:43Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > As far as the benefactor giving me the services of one professional: handyman, for certain. I’m mechanically disinclined, and having someone on-call to do household projects and minor repairs would be awesome. This was my thought, with another point of emphasis: cost. There are a metric ton of home and automotive work that would be immensely helpful to have done, but are unspeakably expensive to have done above and beyond a substantial cost in materials in some cases. My wife and I can clean house if we can be bothered too, and for more extensive cleaning, it isn’t all that expensive by comparison to hire a once a year cleaning or rug shampooing service, or the like. But the hundred+ an hour of a handyman, for what would (in my home) be likely dozens or more hours of work I can think of off the top of my head on a half dozen different projects? Or yardwork (a category I didn’t recall seeing?) Although a LOT depends on the skill level and areas of experience for a handyman - it covers a lot of related, hands on skills, and not all are equally competent, and we don’t know how much research said benefactor is doing. A semi-skilled maid can do a lot less DAMAGE than a semi-skilled handyman! ---
**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:** [May 4, 2024, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/1277 "2024-05-04T18:27:59Z")
I guess a maid would be nice. None of the other options have any appeal to me. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2024, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/1278 "2024-05-04T19:40:08Z")
I started with maid, but changed it to chef. I am willing and do pay for housework, but I can’t justify paying for a personal chef. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2024, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/1279 "2024-05-04T19:43:01Z")
Having a chef occasionally create a great meal would be cool, but I enjoy cooking too much to hand over the whisk. My gf and I sometimes “fight” over control of the oven as it is. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2024, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/1280 "2024-05-04T19:46:43Z")
My “household” is a farm. If I pick “handyman”, will the person only be available to fix things around the house, or will they be available to repair things around the farm, do the mowing, pound trellis posts, and things of that sort? ---
**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:** [May 4, 2024, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/1281 "2024-05-04T19:54:44Z")
And i don’t have the time or energy to cook very often. Most of my meals come from the freezer. And a chef could work with me to make make the dietary changes I should be making - like making veggies more appealing [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636.md?page=63) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636.md?page=65)