# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/21 "2019-05-20T14:19:59Z")
Mythbusters literally tested exactly this many years ago. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/YZRq3XxCZXo/hqdefault.jpg "MythBusters - Banana Peel Slip") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZRq3XxCZXo) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/22 "2019-05-20T14:27:31Z")
A girlfriend and I were skiing one day. In the parking lot, we saw a banana peel on top of clear ice. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/23 "2019-05-20T14:34:27Z")
[quote=“DCnDC, post:21, topic:834186”] Mythbusters literally tested exactly this many years ago. [/QUOTE] And that is one of the many episodes that bothered me because it wasn’t so much ‘can this happen’ as it was ‘we tried a few times and it didn’t happen, so clearly it never happens’. The fact that it’s happened to enough people that it’s become a trope/joke should have told them that maybe they were missing something. Having said that, I may have assumed their conclusion was correct if it hadn’t happened to me. In my case, it was in a school lunchroom on those polished concrete(?) floors. I likely also had worn out tennis shoes on. Also, walking faster or running and/or taking longer steps (so your center of gravity is further from your foot) will help it to happen as well. In that episode, Jaime was wearing boots, he was walking carefully AND he knew the banana was there. It should be noted that you can seem him slip while he was walking over it too. It reminds me of college when we used to spray Pledge on the linoleum floors. When an unsuspecting person walked into that area, they’d slide or fall like they just stepped on wet ice (it was bad, we really shouldn’t have been doing it). But surely this can’t be the case since I (wearing shoes and knowing what’s going on) can walk across it just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/24 "2019-05-20T19:24:02Z")
> [@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. It appears that other researchers [got there first.](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29253796) j ---
**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, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/25 "2019-05-20T19:40:29Z")
Real roadrunners look nothing like our cartoon friend, but they are HILARIOUS to watch. First, they apparently prefer to run rather than fly. Their long legs make running a breeze (pun intended) and you’d swear they are wearing stilts! We’ve been known to stop the car just to watch a roadrunner zip by! A couple of years ago, we started putting birdseed out in front of our AZ house. We bought the requisite bird books and did our best to identify the visitors as they showed up. We were thrilled when an occasional roadrunner stopped by for a snack. They are the GOOFIEST looking bird! Along with the long, long legs, they sport a large, rather unruly crest on top of their heads. Further research revealed they are related to woodpeckers. Subtract the legs, feathers, and crest, there really isn’t much bird left. Like most desert animals, the roadrunner is lean and stringy-looking. I bet the single bite of meat that you might get from the leg would be extremely tough to chew. Crows, however, are monstrous. You could probably serve one as a turkey on Thanksgiving. But since crows are scavengers, the meat is most likely inedible. But you’d have plenty of leftovers! ~VOW ---
**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, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/26 "2019-05-20T20:24:49Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > Real roadrunners look nothing like our cartoon friend, but they are HILARIOUS to watch. First, they apparently prefer to run rather than fly. Their long legs make running a breeze (pun intended) and you’d swear they are wearing stilts! We’ve been known to stop the car just to watch a roadrunner zip by! > > A couple of years ago, we started putting birdseed out in front of our AZ house. We bought the requisite bird books and did our best to identify the visitors as they showed up. We were thrilled when an occasional roadrunner stopped by for a snack. > > They are the GOOFIEST looking bird! Along with the long, long legs, they sport a large, rather unruly crest on top of their heads. Further research revealed they are related to woodpeckers. > > Subtract the legs, feathers, and crest, there really isn’t much bird left. Like most desert animals, the roadrunner is lean and stringy-looking. I bet the single bite of meat that you might get from the leg would be extremely tough to chew. > > Crows, however, are monstrous. You could probably serve one as a turkey on Thanksgiving. But since crows are scavengers, the meat is most likely inedible. But you’d have plenty of leftovers! > ~VOW Well, now I’m eatin’ Crow! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/27 "2019-05-20T20:30:38Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > They are the GOOFIEST looking bird! Along with the long, long legs, they sport a large, rather unruly crest on top of their heads. Further research revealed they are related to woodpeckers. So you say that the Roadrunner and Woody are cousins? That would explain a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/28 "2019-05-20T20:44:55Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Did you ever have an anvil fall on your head? That really smarts. > [@panache45](#): > > Or a piano. If an anvil fell on a piano it would certainly be notable! I’m not sure what I would do, except to try to react "A chord"ingly. ---
**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, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/29 "2019-05-20T22:57:48Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > If an anvil fell on a piano it would certainly be notable! I’m not sure what I would do, except to try to react "A chord"ingly. I am just gonna make one timely step sideways before the anvil falls to the ground. As I’m smiling to my self I realize I’m on a jutting out piece of cliff and down we go. Me, anvil and cliff. I’m dusting my pants off when the piano slams down on my head. With a loud musical sound. Strings and ivory keys flying everywhere. (I’ve spent too much time watching cartoons) ---
**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 21, 2019, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186/30 "2019-05-21T00:12:23Z")
Being a dog, I have this uncanny ability to float through the air in pursuit of delicious aromas, but only if they’re shaped like caressing fingers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-banana-peel-on-the-sidewalk/834186.md?page=1)