# On a scale of 1 to Tom Petty, just how petty are you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 27, 2023, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-scale-of-1-to-tom-petty-just-how-petty-are-you/990782 "2023-09-27T15:42:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-scale-of-1-to-tom-petty-just-how-petty-are-you/990782/1 "2023-09-27T15:42:53Z")
This survey ranks States for their pettiness. It’s obviously a highly academic and well-designed scientific study. People admit to lots of petty behaviours in relationships, while driving, at work, in friendships, on the sports fields, etc. **But what about you? Are you Tom Petty? What is your passive-aggressive behaviour?** > **[Pettiest state in America revealed — you’ll be shocked where NY ranks](https://nypost.com/2023/09/26/pettiest-state-in-america-revealed-youll-be-shocked-where-ny-ranks/)** > > Research was launched into people’s pettiness due to the unflattering trait’s growing popularity online, where its eponymous hashtag has stockpiled more than 4.4 billion TikTok views. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-scale-of-1-to-tom-petty-just-how-petty-are-you/990782/2 "2023-09-27T16:29:51Z")
**Excerpt (from highly scientific study):** _Alabama reigned supreme as the state with the “highest levels of pettiness,” according to Osborne’s survey, which revealed that 96% of respondents from there copped to being plagued with a propensity toward getting payback._ _Nevada, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Illinois and Arkansas filled out the other top slots on the maliciousness list._ _Conversely, although not a state, the District of Columbia is the least petty area in the U.S., according to the research, with 67% of respondents confessing to embracing the caustic characteristic._ ---
**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:** [September 27, 2023, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-scale-of-1-to-tom-petty-just-how-petty-are-you/990782/3 "2023-09-27T17:30:55Z")
I kinda knew Arkansas would be high on the list. ---
**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:** [September 27, 2023, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-scale-of-1-to-tom-petty-just-how-petty-are-you/990782/4 "2023-09-27T22:07:03Z")
I don’t care how much it would help the environment, I’m not living like a refugee. ---
**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:** [September 27, 2023, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-scale-of-1-to-tom-petty-just-how-petty-are-you/990782/5 "2023-09-27T22:52:08Z")
You don’t have to. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-scale-of-1-to-tom-petty-just-how-petty-are-you/990782/6 "2023-09-27T23:06:09Z")
Boy, not only do they not have data on Hawai’i, they can’t even be bothered to acknowledge the state’s existence - > (Complete data was unavailable for Alaska, Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota and Delaware.) But at least those states were named! They didn’t even list Hawai’i, nor did they identify Hawai’i by name on the map where all the other states are labeled. I must find some petty way to exact revenge … ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-scale-of-1-to-tom-petty-just-how-petty-are-you/990782/7 "2023-09-27T23:10:03Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I don’t care how much it would help the environment, I’m not living like a refugee. If you won’t back down, that’s rather Petty. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-scale-of-1-to-tom-petty-just-how-petty-are-you/990782/8 "2023-09-27T23:21:40Z")
Imagine how all those _puertoriqueños_ feel… ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-scale-of-1-to-tom-petty-just-how-petty-are-you/990782/9 "2023-09-27T23:23:30Z")
if you push me into the great wide open, I won’t back down. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-scale-of-1-to-tom-petty-just-how-petty-are-you/990782/10 "2023-09-27T23:30:51Z")
They could have at least done a Gilligan’s Island style “and the rest…” ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2023, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-scale-of-1-to-tom-petty-just-how-petty-are-you/990782/11 "2023-09-28T00:48:33Z")
😆 (shut up, Discourse) ---
**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:** [September 28, 2023, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-scale-of-1-to-tom-petty-just-how-petty-are-you/990782/12 "2023-09-28T00:51:11Z")
Oh come on, It’s the last dance for Maryanne(Jane) ---
**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:** [September 28, 2023, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-scale-of-1-to-tom-petty-just-how-petty-are-you/990782/13 "2023-09-28T02:25:50Z")
Ahh, here comes my girl. ---
**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:** [September 28, 2023, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-scale-of-1-to-tom-petty-just-how-petty-are-you/990782/14 "2023-09-28T02:30:28Z")
Why thank you Burpo, didn’t know you cared. 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2023, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-scale-of-1-to-tom-petty-just-how-petty-are-you/990782/15 "2023-09-28T02:40:58Z")
I don’t know why they picked Tom to top the scale. I bet Richard is just as Petty as he was, if not more so. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2023, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-scale-of-1-to-tom-petty-just-how-petty-are-you/990782/16 "2023-09-28T02:51:24Z")
I can be a bit Lori Petty at times. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-scale-of-1-to-tom-petty-just-how-petty-are-you/990782/17 "2023-09-29T21:15:47Z")
> From his high perch, where he was lashed to the rigging of his flagship, USS _Hartford_, Farragut could see the ships pulling back. “What’s the trouble?” he shouted through a trumpet to [USS _Brooklyn_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Brooklyn_(1858)). “Torpedoes”, was the shouted reply. “ **Damn the torpedoes**.”, said Farragut, “Four bells, [Captain Drayton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percival_Drayton), go ahead. [Jouett](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Edward_Jouett), full speed.”[[29]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Farragut#cite_note-30)[[30]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Farragut#cite_note-31) The bulk of the fleet succeeded in entering the bay. Farragut triumphed over the opposition of heavy batteries in [Fort Morgan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Morgan_(Alabama)) and [Fort Gaines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Gaines_(Alabama)) to defeat the squadron of Admiral [Franklin Buchanan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Buchanan). > Everybody’s had to fight to be free I am all about Vice-admirals who have kick-ass quotes and spectacular songwriters ---
**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:** [September 29, 2023, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-scale-of-1-to-tom-petty-just-how-petty-are-you/990782/18 "2023-09-29T21:19:59Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > I bet Richard is just as Petty as he was, if not more so. He is The King Petty. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-scale-of-1-to-tom-petty-just-how-petty-are-you/990782/19 "2023-09-29T21:39:05Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > He is The King Petty. [It’s good to be king](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aogOR8c8Q4). (Stick around for the guitar solos)