# Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 3)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [January 29, 2026, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157 "2026-01-29T18:21:35Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 122
### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2026, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2421 "2026-07-26T18:01:06Z")
> [@Gyrate](#):
>
> If the question is “Do I let my pets eat off my plate while I’m eating off it?”, then no
Same here. One cat likes to lick the plate after I am done, that’s about it. The cats have their special little bowls.
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### Author:  [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2026, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2422 "2026-07-26T19:21:27Z")
How else would I get an eggy plate ready for the dishwasher? That’s what dogs are _for_.
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### Author:  [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2026, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2423 "2026-07-26T19:49:34Z")
In our house it’s called the puppy prewash.
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### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2026, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2424 "2026-07-26T22:01:53Z")
I mostly get around by driving, but i also sometimes walk or take public transit. Often, i drive to a bus or train.
I’m in favor of upgrading our public transit infrastructure.
Didn’t have anything to vote for
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### Author:  [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2026, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2425 "2026-07-26T22:08:39Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#):
>
> I mostly get around by driving, but i also sometimes walk or take public transit. Often, i drive to a bus or train.
I get that people might use a different form of transportation sometimes, that’s precisely why I used the word “mostly” in the poll.
> [@puzzlegal](#):
>
> Didn’t have anything to vote for
Vote for the one that you use most of the time, e.g. for the majority of trips you take.
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### Author:  [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2026, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2426 "2026-07-26T22:27:22Z")
I’m the one of the many who voted for “mostly by car, but I’d use something else given a choice”.
Driving to me is a chore I do to get to the places I want/need to go. If there was reliable, nearby public transportation, I’d use it. But the closest any existing public transport gets to me is 1/2-3/4 of a mile away as the crow flies, and I’d have to use 2-3 transfers from there to get to my closest grocer store as an example. Possible? Yes. Effective? No.
And that’s leaving out the weirdness of local long-distance transport, where flying to my most frequent destination takes _more_ time than driving the 630 miles due to the airports servicing the area, pathing, parking, and TSA times!
I personally would _love_ fully functional all electric self-driving public cars/taxis, that you call up in an app and they come take you where you want and back while I comfortable read while it does the work with no upfront and ongoing costs of car ownership. Or efficient and wide spread public transport.
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### Author:  [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2427 "2026-07-26T23:10:08Z")
When I lived in America (most of my life), public transit was terrible. I drove when I had to, bicycled when I could.
I now live in a city with excellent public transit, and I rarely drive, and it’s better.
What I wouldn’t give for a viable national passenger rail system, though! Why nations as large as the US and Canada think that cars and airplanes are the way to go, I’ll never figure out.
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### Author:  [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2026, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2428 "2026-07-26T23:31:32Z")
I live in the mountains in a semi rural area. Biking is not an option even when I was young enough to do so. Nothing is close enough to walk to. And there aren’t enough riders to justify public transit. I was an Uber driver years ago and even that is not a viable option locally. Until teleportation becomes a reality, I’ll keep my car.
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### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2026, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2429 "2026-07-27T01:44:25Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#):
>
> I personally would _love_ fully functional all electric self-driving public cars/taxis, that you call up in an app and they come take you where you want and back while I comfortable read while it does the work with no upfront and ongoing costs of car ownership
That would be lovely. At least, supposing I could count on the car to react at least as well as i can to cats, dogs, chickens, the occasional loose cow, tractors, buggies, and so on in the road. I don’t think the technology’s there yet.
The county I live in is attempting to develop public transport. There is sometimes a bus whose closest route point takes it, I think, about half a mile from here and from there follows a circuit that would effectively take me all day to get anywhere and back home again, and which doesn’t go everywhere I need to go. I drive.
The cats have their own plates and the dog his own dish, but I very often give the cats my dishes to clean out. The dog gets his treats in his own bowl. Since the dishes all get washed before I use them again not giving them to the dog isn’t very logical, but I will point out that the cats like their food fresh but the dog is happy to gnaw on something he found in a field that’s been dead for a week. Or longer.
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### Author:  [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2026, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2430 "2026-07-27T03:36:44Z")
Oh, agreed, that’s why I specified “fully functional all electric self-driving public cars”. They aren’t there yet, and I bet things will be extremely complicated where the self-driving cars are… fine… but our fellow human drivers and their lack of attention are the proximate causes.
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### Author:  [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2026, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2431 "2026-07-27T05:48:28Z")
I lived in San Francisco for a decade, less than a block from the nearest transit stop, and walking distance from my primary job. In ten years, I put about 8000 miles on my car.
The Las Vegas valley, on the other hand, has a woefully inadequate public transportation system. I’m back to driving pretty much everywhere, but I’d much rather use transit if I could.
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### Author:  [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2026, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2432 "2026-07-27T11:15:54Z")
> [@Wheelz](#):
>
> In ten years, I put about 8000 miles on my car.
I did about 200 on Saturday, just for fun.
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### Author:  [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2026, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2433 "2026-07-27T13:45:23Z")
**Mrs Magill** put in nearly 5000 miles in the last three weeks.
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### Author:  [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2026, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2434 "2026-07-27T13:54:12Z")
That’s a lot! Was that vacation or is that routine/ is she a professional driver of some sort; I bet that’s not that uncommon for a long-haul trucker.
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### Author:  [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2026, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2435 "2026-07-27T14:10:07Z")
We live just south of Nashville. Beginning July 5th, she drove our oldest back to Ft Hood, where he’s stationed and stayed with him for a week. While there, she drove up to Plano for a day to visit her office there. She returned home on the following Friday (That’s almost 2000 miles right there.). The very next day, she took our youngest to Raleigh for NC State Engineering camp. She then went to Charlotte to stay with her parents and visit her Charlotte office. After she picked up our youngest from camp, the embarked on The Great Northeastern College Tour. Over the next six days, they went to DC, State College, PA, Buffalo, NY (with dinner/sight seeing detours in Niagra, ON), Toronto, ON, Ann Arbor, MI, Chicago, IL, and Columbus, OH before returning home.
I married a crazy woman.
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### Author:  [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2026, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2436 "2026-07-27T14:34:35Z")
My vacation this year was _only_ 16-1700 in 8 days; of course that was mostly with a car club, so 150-200/day driving with others + there & back home
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### Author:  [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2026, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2437 "2026-07-27T15:59:42Z")
> [@DrDeth](#):
>
> One cat likes to lick the plate after I am done, that’s about it.
I sometimes let my cat lick my plate after I’m done eating. The problem is that he doesn’t understand the concept of “done eating”. So if I’m eating something he really likes, like eggs with runny yolks, he’ll jump on the table and attempt to lick my plate while I’m still trying to eat.
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### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2026, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2438 "2026-07-27T16:46:36Z")
I had to look this up.
> **[Car club](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_club)**
>
> A car club or automotive enthusiast community is a group of people who share a common interest in motor vehicles. Car clubs are typically organized by enthusiasts around the type of vehicle (e.g. Chevrolet Corvette, Ford Mustang), brand (e.g. Jeep), or similar interest (e.g. off-roading). Traditional car clubs were off-line organizations, but automotive on-line communities have flourished on the internet. Car clubs have been a form of gathering car aficionados for many years that focus a passion...
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [July 28, 2026, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2439 "2026-07-28T01:13:00Z")
That one verse maybe should not be listed-
> **[Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport | Deleted verse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tie_Me_Kangaroo_Down,_Sport#Deleted_verse)**
>
> The fourth verse caused some controversy in 1964 because of its use of the word "Abo", an offensive slang term for Aboriginal Australians. The lyrics of this verse (not found on Harris's official website) were as follows:
> The stockman thus emancipates his indigenous [offsiders](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/offsider "wikt:offsider") at his death because they are “of no further use” to him. Fellow Australian [Horrie Dargie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrie_Dargie "Horrie Dargie") objected to this verse and when he released his cover version in May 1960 Dargie deliberately removed the offensive lyrics.[[13]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tie_Me_Kangaroo_Down,_Sport#cite_note-13) Dargie’s rendition reached No. 34 on the [Kent Music Report](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Music_Report "Kent Music Report") (back-calculated) Australian singles chart.[[14]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tie_Me_Kangaroo_Down,_Sport#cite_note-Kentpre1970-14) This verse did not feature in Harris’s 21st-century versions of the song and, in a 2006 interview, Harris expressed regret about the racist nature of the original lyrics.[[15]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tie_Me_Kangaroo_Down,_Sport#cite_note-15)
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### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [July 28, 2026, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2440 "2026-07-28T07:59:52Z")
Nirvana is much better than Guns’n’Roses (and a different genre), and rather better than Pearl Jam.
I didn’t vote in any of the other pairs; no obvious winners in any of them, for me.
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