# Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 3) **URL:** \ **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:** 172
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3421 "2026-10-12T10:30:06Z")
I was never “with it”. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2026, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3422 "2026-10-12T12:56:24Z")
> [@Polls only: No discussion](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polls-only-no-discussion/953642/7046): > > Are you with it/cool/rad/hip/on fire? Check any that apply. Or, as they say in GenX, “What the fuck ever.” ---
**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:** [October 12, 2026, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3423 "2026-10-12T19:45:11Z")
> [@Thumper668](#): > > I’ve been known to express my impatience with such witticisms as “whenever you have a minute” or “the gas pedal is on the right”, but always when I’m alone in the car. I have a friend who said his sister once said “Hey, the light’s not gonna get any greener,” which hit him as especially funny at the time (as things like this sometimes do), and he had to pull the car over he was laughing so hard. It created an image in his mind that he couldn’t resist. ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3424 "2026-10-12T19:50:05Z")
Only if it’s a local business I frequent. Corporate loyalty programs can get fucked even if I go there often (I’m looking at you Quick Check) ---
**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:** [October 12, 2026, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3425 "2026-10-12T19:51:05Z")
I don’t much care whether the poll thread gets limited to light subjects or not. I don’t think every poll needs an option everyone can vote for. I don’t think every poll even needs an “other” option. But a lot of them do, and that was one of them. Didn’t vote in either of those. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3426 "2026-10-12T20:52:58Z")
I join loyalty programs if I think there’s going to be a benefit to me, irrespective of how often I think I’ll go there. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2026, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3427 "2026-10-12T20:55:38Z")
Same. I often find that when qualifiers are added to poll options I’m left with nothing I can respond to, e.g. I don’t really do loyalty programs, but it has nothing to do with principle, it’s mostly laziness or indifference. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2026, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3428 "2026-10-12T21:07:44Z")
I had a tough time deciding between “I don’t care”, “I don’t like baseball”, and “Bacon!” in the baseball poll. They pretty much all describe how I feel. Well, maybe not bacon, but I like bacon, too. > [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I often find that when qualifiers are added to poll options I’m left with nothing I can respond to, e.g. I don’t really do loyalty programs, but it has nothing to do with principle, it’s mostly laziness or indifference. To which I say don’t take polls like that so seriously. When I add qualifiers like that in my polls, it’s pretty much always as a joke in an attempt to make the poll more lighthearted. If it’s one of my polls feel free to ignore the qualifier and vote based on the main gist of the option. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3429 "2026-10-12T21:21:26Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I don’t think every poll needs an option everyone can vote for. I don’t think every poll even needs an “other” option. But a lot of them do, and that was one of them. The question was if it is “preferable to any extent that all polls have at least one option for every reader to vote on,” so I’m confused why you didn’t chose “no” when that matches exactly what you state above. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2026, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3430 "2026-10-12T21:41:52Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > To which I say don’t take polls like that so seriously We are a proud micronation of pedants! ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3431 "2026-10-12T21:49:25Z")
> [@Polls only: No discussion](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polls-only-no-discussion/953642/7050): > > Is it preferable that polls not bring up hot-button, divisive political topics on a way that threatens to monopolize the discussion thread? I voted no because while I wouldn’t want a topic to monopolize the discussion thread, I have faith that one of us would spin off a new thread if things were going that way. I wouldn’t want to police the polls that people post. Sometimes you don’t know that something is a hot-button topic. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3432 "2026-10-12T21:54:52Z")
Two notes: - I still think that having a “I’m not interested in this topic” option waters the poll down and is meaningless to the results. If you’re not rooting for anyone in the World Series because you’re not interested in it and/or baseball, I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect an option for you in a poll about who you’re rooting for in the World Series. - I wonder if it would have made a difference if I’d made clear in my loyalty program poll that I was interested _specifically_ in how frequency affects whether you sign up or not. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3433 "2026-10-12T22:05:19Z")
Agreed, although if the thread _is_ supposed to be for lighthearted topics, I’m totally fine with that, as long as it’s clear. Thus my question. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3434 "2026-10-12T22:39:15Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > if the thread _is_ supposed to be for lighthearted topics By custom, it generally is. I’d take weightier topics elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3435 "2026-10-12T22:44:31Z")
Really? I had no idea. Again, thus the question. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3436 "2026-10-12T22:49:58Z")
From that poll, it would appear it’s not as customary as I thought. In a recent Pit thread it appeared that most agreed that a certain contentious issue was a bad fit for the polls thread. ---
**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:** [October 13, 2026, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3437 "2026-10-13T00:27:03Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > The question was if it is “preferable to any extent that all polls have at least one option for every reader to vote on,” so I’m confused why you didn’t chose “no” when that matches exactly what you state above. I don’t think it does match, because I think there are some polls which don’t need such an option; but I think it’s stronly preferable that many of them do. > [@TroutMan](#): > > voted no because while I wouldn’t want a topic to monopolize the discussion thread, I have faith that one of us would spin off a new thread if things were going that way. > > I wouldn’t want to police the polls that people post. Sometimes you don’t know that something is a hot-button topic Yeah. I voted other because I think it’s preferable for us not to monopolize this thread with way too many posts about any one poll, but I think there are ways to avoid that which don’t require limiting poll topics. I don’t think people should start polls in that thread with the intention of starting a long divisive argument, but that’s not really the same thing as never posting one on a hot button topic. — I sometimes join loyalty programs if I expect to shop there frequently enough (which might well be less than once a month) and if I like the store or if I expect significant benefit and don’t much dislike the store. All three of those things are a factor. ---
**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:** [October 13, 2026, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3438 "2026-10-13T01:08:09Z")
Sometimes a poll maker is not seeking input from everyone who reads the poll. The question being asked may not apply to you. If I am curious about learning which Dopers who are 50 years of age and older can name some K-Pop groups, and I frame the question in that manner, you should not take offense if none of the options apply to you because you are 47. So relax. I’m sure another poll will come along soon that pertains to you. mmm ---
**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:** [October 13, 2026, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3439 "2026-10-13T01:15:30Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Sometimes a poll maker is not seeking input from everyone who reads the poll. The question being asked may not apply to you. Yup. Those I just ignore. Believe it or not, I do just ignore quite a few such polls. — Loyalty programs aren’t free. You pay for them in information. And I do object to them in principle; but sometimes I join one anyway. ---
**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:** [October 13, 2026, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3440 "2026-10-13T01:35:57Z")
I agree that people with no interest in the topic don’t need a poll option. I didn’t vote in the world series poll. I don’t follow baseball well enough for my opinion too be interesting. But a very large fraction of polls are interesting, and yet _none of the options is appropriate_ to me. Like the loyalty poll. I joined at the pet store that i go to no more than once a month, and didn’t join at the supermarket i go to multiple times a week. I have an opinion. It’s potentially an interesting topic. But the answers all suck, imho. And it’s hard to guess in advance how other people will react to a question. As for the problem of “dilution”? Really? If 5% of people vote for option A and 10% of people vote for option B, and 85% say, “other” , you know: Not many people felt inclined to vote for A or B, and also, that of those who did, twice as many choose B. What more did you want to know than that twice as many people like B? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157.md?page=171) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157.md?page=173)