# Omnibus Stupid MFers in the news thread (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 5, 2024, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657 "2024-01-05T16:15:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 367
**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 22, 2026, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7321 "2026-05-22T18:42:25Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > But otherwise, do folks live/work where people just toss random food waste on the floor? Like this is a normal, everyday occurrence? Anymore? Probably not, at least not in the U.S. But, the trope originated in the late 19th/early 20th century, when random food waste on the floor, or in the street, _was_ a bigger problem. > **[How Did Slipping on a Banana Peel Become a Comedy Staple?](https://www.mentalfloss.com/entertainment/how-did-slipping-banana-peel-become-comedy-staple)** > > It is now a deadly weapon in Mario Kart and a slapstick comedy staple, but how did the banana peel gets its reputation as such a threatening object?A Danger to SocietyBefore the discovery of its comedic potential, the banana skin was considered a... ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7322 "2026-05-22T18:44:41Z")
If you work in a grocery store, like the one @Joey_P owns, you probably encounter an above-average amount of food dropped onto shiny floors in the course of your day. ---
**Author:** ![mtnmatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@mtnmatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtnmatt)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7323 "2026-05-22T19:22:46Z")
Literally last night I saw a smear on the asphalt in the alley behind my house that was a banana, and thought about the risk of slipping. It was garbage day so presumably fell from a neighbor’s can during pickup. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7324 "2026-05-22T20:23:50Z")
I did once actually faceplant into wet concrete. In my defense, I was about 5 at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7325 "2026-05-22T20:39:39Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > If you work in a grocery store, like the one @Joey_P owns, you probably encounter an above-average amount of food dropped onto shiny floors in the course of your day. I think I read that it was a common thing for supermarket customers to slip and fall after stepping on a loose grape on the floor. I’ve noticed that supermarkets put small carpets in front of the grape display and, more recently, stopped selling loose bunches of grapes. Instead, they offer bags containing a bunch or two of grapes. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7326 "2026-05-22T20:41:46Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > If you work in a grocery store, like the one @Joey_P owns, you probably encounter an above-average amount of food dropped onto shiny floors in the course of your day. Food, yes. But food _waste_? Like discarded banana peels? I’d get awfully judge-y about somebody eating a banana in a grocery store and tossing the peel on the ground to the hazard/hilarity of others. I do understand this was more of a hazard a century ago, though. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7327 "2026-05-22T20:45:12Z")
I tried once to see how slippery a Cavendish banana peel was by dropping it on the kitchen floor and stepping on it. I don’t think I’ve ever had a Gros Michel banana to try this with, though I found a mail-order house that sells them (not cheaply, of course) and was considering ordering some, just to compare the taste. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7328 "2026-05-22T22:29:31Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Michel bananas are still being grown and presumably you could get your hands on them somehow. You can order them online. > **[Gros Michel Banana](https://miamifruit.org/products/gros-michel-banana-box-order?srsltid=AfmBOorH8k8_YUCi45ybAfNrS7ogHVXvjRCl6tHlzkq3Iq-72WkFtsAm)** > > Origin: Gros Michel Bananas entered the historical record in the 1830s when a French planter, Jean Pouyat, noticed the plant growing on the Caribbean island of Martinique. Locally, it became known as the Martinique banana. It spread through the... The $37.00 is for one (1) banana. You can get a large box (8-10lb.) for $197.00 Plus shipping. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7329 "2026-05-22T22:45:08Z")
My curling club hosts events for people who have never played before, and I’m one of the instructors who will sometimes teach the new people how to play. If you’ve ever watched curling, you’ve seen the players slide along the ice before releasing the stone. Our guests don’t have proper curling shoes, so we have sliders they can use; rubber on top, teflon on the bottom. [![](https://www.goldlinecurling.com/product-images/SLIDE-STP_02-01.png) ](https://www.goldlinecurling.com/product-images/SLIDE-STP_02-01.png) I warn people before they go on the ice that those sliders are worse than a banana peel in a cartoon, and never just leave them on the ice. We instructors watch them like hawks. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7330 "2026-05-22T22:48:45Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > The $37.00 is for one (1) banana. You can get a large box (8-10lb.) for $197.00 > > Plus shipping. That’s expensive but from what I was reading about how rare they are, I’m not all that shocked. I worry that if this new fungus is as bad as reported, _all_ bananas might be just as expensive someday. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7331 "2026-05-22T22:52:12Z")
I don’t like bananas anyway but I’ve read the reason artificial banana flavoring doesn’t taste much like bananas is because it was profiled after the Gros Michel. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7332 "2026-05-22T22:55:03Z")
Makes sense; we’ve had artificial banana flavor for a long time, since back when the Gros Michel was the standard. It would make sense for them to not change the formula that had been around for decades just because the real thing was different, as people know what “banana flavoring” tastes like, and there would have probably not been much profit in a new formula. I’ve always liked the taste of artificial banana in things like candy and beverages. I bet I would have loved old school bananas. Sadly, by the time I was born, Cavendish had already been the standard for years. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7333 "2026-05-22T23:03:01Z")
I totally see your points. OTOH I have always assumed that a discarded peel has tbat last 1/2" inch of fruit still in it. Overripe banana fruit is real slippery. Even the modern breeds. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2026, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7334 "2026-05-23T00:05:10Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > OTOH I have always assumed that a discarded peel has tbat last 1/2" inch of fruit still in it. From the Japanese Society of Tribiologists: [Frictional Coefficient under Banana Skin](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/trol/7/3/7_147/_pdf) A banana peel contains what is called “polysaccharide follicular gel”, and when crushed that gel is released as the cellulose membranes collapse. That gel is pretty slippery, with a frictional coefficient comparable to a ski on snow. In addition, MythBusters tested the myth of a banana peel being slippery. They found that simply stepping on a banana peel while walking wasn’t that big of a deal, but _running_ and stepping on a banana peel could easily cause you to slip. That’s because when you run, you are pushing laterally against the ground as opposed to your foot mostly just pushing downward during a walk. It’s that lateral movement and the lubrication released from the crushed banana that causes the slippage. Here is a short (2 minute) video clip from MythBusters showing what happens when Adam tries to run across banana peels. It really does look like a person on ice, consistent with the Japanese study above. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YZRq3XxCZXo/hqdefault.jpg "MythBusters - Banana Peel Slip") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZRq3XxCZXo) ---
**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 23, 2026, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7335 "2026-05-23T00:28:28Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > the reason artificial banana flavoring doesn’t taste much like bananas… [![](https://img.ifunny.co/images/5bca1f51edd7b6d27dbe0d8081c3c81c75b960c93ad4037193a09d29d55d4e76_1.jpg) ](https://img.ifunny.co/images/5bca1f51edd7b6d27dbe0d8081c3c81c75b960c93ad4037193a09d29d55d4e76_1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2026, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7336 "2026-05-23T00:43:32Z")
This BBC article addresses the idea that artificial banana flavoring is different from real bananas because it’s based on the old Gros Michel. > **[The secrets of fake flavours](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20140829-the-secrets-of-fake-flavours)** > > Artificial flavours are more complex than first appears. Chris Baraniuk discovers a world of sensory trickery – and a curious myth about fake banana. > However, if you dig in to this tale a little it soon becomes clear that there is little or no verifiable source that artificial banana is based on Gros Michel. “It sounds very, very unlikely to me,” says synthetic organic chemist Derek Lowe. “The thing is, banana can be mimicked most of the way with a simple compound called isoamyl acetate. Many chemists know it as ‘banana ester’ and anyone who smells it immediately goes, ‘banana!’ ” It doesn’t completely disprove the notion, and even suggests some weak evidence for it, but it certainly casts doubt on it. Rather, it suggests that maybe fake banana is closer to the Gros Michel which is sweeter and less complex than the Cavendish, but it doesn’t seem identical. It’s just that there’s a simple ester that’s vaguely banana-like, and that’s what people use because it’s easy to make and close enough. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2026, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7337 "2026-05-23T00:52:07Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > The $37.00 is for one (1) banana. It’s one banana. How much can it be? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2026, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7338 "2026-05-23T02:38:51Z")
Idiot declares in video game voice chat that he’ll commit a mass shooting at a Walmart if hantavirus causes a lockdown, gets arrested for making terrorist threats. > **[Sheriff: Man threatened Walmart mass shooting if hantavirus led to lockdown](https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/-arkansas-man-arrested-walmart-threat-hantavirus-lockdown)** > > An Arkansas man is facing felony charges after authorities say he threatened to carry out a mass shooting at a Walmart if the country went into another lockdown because of the hantavirus. ---
**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 23, 2026, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7339 "2026-05-23T14:21:43Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > > I wonder if people slipping on a banana peel happens just as frequently. > > FWIW, I’ve done that. It was on a smooth/polished floor and was like stepping on wet ice. One time when my g/f and I went skiing, we saw a banana peel frozen in the ice in the parking lot. We laughed. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2026, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7340 "2026-05-23T15:49:55Z")
That banana ester is also used to test gas masks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657.md?page=366) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657.md?page=368)