# I Found a Banana Peel on the Sidewalk **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 19, 2019, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186 "2019-05-19T17:14:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2019, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/1 "2019-05-19T17:14:56Z")
While waiting for the bus, I saw a banana peel laying on the sidewalk. It was all brown and disgusting, but it was unmistakably a banana peel. “Ahah!” thought I, “Here is my Mythbusters Moment. Here I answer a question that has plagued humanity since the earliest days of traveling vaudeville. Is it true that stepping on a banana peel will make you slip?” I walked up and dangled my foot over the rotting fruit skin. It was surprisingly difficult to force myself to step on it. Was it revulsion, or was it fear of the unknown that made me hesitate? Was it my self preservation instinct? The ennui of existentialism? Whatever it was, I pushed past the doubts in my mind, and stepped down. Immediately, my foot slid sideways. I could feel the shriveled skin and whithered banana threads grinding between the cement and the bottom of my shoe. I lifted my foot quickly, lest I be swept away into peril. But I had my answer! The cliche was still a cliche, but it was the truth all the same. Banana peels can make you slip! I retreated in triumph for my bus was approaching. There was a trash can nearby, but I did not toss the squashed banana peel into it, for I was reeling in excitement at my discovery. Besides, it was really, really icky. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2019, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/2 "2019-05-19T17:40:21Z")
Cool! I’ve dangerously walked under ladders many times. And I have stepped in a bucket of paint on the floor. I never pondered or even gave it much thought. I was kinda pissed about the bucket of paint, though. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2019, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/3 "2019-05-19T17:54:01Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > And I have stepped in a bucket of paint on the floor. I thought that only happened in Loony Tunes cartoons. Wait, are you telling us that your life is just like … oh, never mind! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2019, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/4 "2019-05-19T17:55:43Z")
I pick up rakes by stepping on the tines. Works as advertised. ---
**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:** [May 19, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/5 "2019-05-19T18:03:50Z")
Did you ever have an anvil fall on your head? That really smarts. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2019, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/6 "2019-05-19T18:07:37Z")
Or, put your brakes on right at the edge of the cliff only to have it break off and you go down anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2019, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/7 "2019-05-19T19:00:28Z")
I did once pull out a stinger of fish I caught only to find heads and skeletons. A turtle must have eaten them. Very cartoony. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2019, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/8 "2019-05-19T19:39:48Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Or, put your brakes on right at the edge of the cliff only to have it break off and you go down anyway? You don’t start to fall until you _ **realize** _ you’re in mid-air. It’s a cartoon quantum-superposition kind of thing. It’s the observation that determines the reality. (I am a recognized expert on cartoon quantum-superposition as it applies to cartoon coyotes.) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2019, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/9 "2019-05-19T19:47:25Z")
Occasionally when they see the cliff break off they move forward look at the broken cliff side smugly and zoom to the ground just in time for the cliff to flatten them on the canyon floor. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2019, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/10 "2019-05-19T22:11:02Z")
I think my children step on every single sidewalk crack they encounter. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/11 "2019-05-20T00:11:53Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Or, put your brakes on right at the edge of the cliff only to have it break off and you go down anyway? You should still be able to stop your plummet. Air brakes. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/12 "2019-05-20T00:47:35Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Did you ever have an anvil fall on your head? That really smarts. Where was your [tiny umbrella](https://images.app.goo.gl/jiGpc3kgoLaSDiQB9)? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/13 "2019-05-20T00:57:58Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > You should still be able to stop your plummet. > > Air brakes. Or maybe that ACME brand parachute. I can float down til it catches on a branch. My door flies open and I fall down to the canyon floor only to stand up and the car lands on my head. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/14 "2019-05-20T01:03:51Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Or maybe that ACME brand parachute. I can float down til it catches on a branch. My door flies open and I fall down to the canyon floor only to stand up and the car lands on my head. And then, running for help, you run smack-dab into the wall of a cliff, because there’s a tunnel painted on it! (The Road Runner zips right into the tunnel.) ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/15 "2019-05-20T04:15:10Z")
This is all fun and good, but I suddenly find myself wondering if roadrunner is particularly tasty. Has Unca Cecil addressed the topic? Never mind that human taste buds will respond differently than canine taste buds. Wile E is quite anthropomorphized enough that the difference should be negligible. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/16 "2019-05-20T05:01:15Z")
I’m fairly certain R.R. is slim pickins for a meal. They’re all beep-beep and feathers. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/17 "2019-05-20T06:10:57Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > This is all fun and good, but I suddenly find myself wondering if roadrunner is particularly tasty. Has Unca Cecil addressed the topic? Never mind that human taste buds will respond differently than canine taste buds. Wile E is quite anthropomorphized enough that the difference should be negligible. Not an article, but it was [asked here years ago](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=601565). Not much of a conclusion, though. I tried to find the referenced image, as I remember what it looked like, but I couldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/18 "2019-05-20T06:59:03Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Did you ever have an anvil fall on your head? That really smarts. Or a piano. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/19 "2019-05-20T08:05:10Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Not an article, but it was [asked here years ago](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=601565). Not much of a conclusion, though. > > I tried to find the referenced image, as I remember what it looked like, but I couldn’t. Cripes, I actually _posted_ in that thread! I hate when that happens. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/20 "2019-05-20T13:15:43Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > While waiting for the bus, I saw a banana peel laying on the sidewalk. It was all brown and disgusting, but it was unmistakably a banana peel. > > “Ahah!” thought I, “Here is my Mythbusters Moment. Here I answer a question that has plagued humanity since the earliest days of traveling vaudeville. Is it true that stepping on a banana peel will make you slip?” > > I walked up and dangled my foot over the rotting fruit skin. It was surprisingly difficult to force myself to step on it. Was it revulsion, or was it fear of the unknown that made me hesitate? Was it my self preservation instinct? The ennui of existentialism? > > Whatever it was, I pushed past the doubts in my mind, > and stepped down. Immediately, my foot slid sideways. I could feel the shriveled skin and whithered banana threads grinding between the cement and the bottom of my shoe. I lifted my foot quickly, lest I be swept away into peril. > > But I had my answer! The cliche was still a cliche, but it was the truth all the same. Banana peels can make you slip! > > I retreated in triumph for my bus was approaching. There was a trash can nearby, but I did not toss the squashed banana peel into it, for I was reeling in excitement at my discovery. > > Besides, it was really, really icky. All well and good, but can they get you stoned? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186.md?page=2)