# So it turns out, some consumers really are cursed **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 6, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-some-consumers-really-are-cursed/687853 "2014-05-06T23:27:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-some-consumers-really-are-cursed/687853/21 "2014-05-07T17:02:05Z")
My wife and I had a run of favorite restaurants that would soon go under as soon as we became established regulars. ---
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-some-consumers-really-are-cursed/687853/22 "2014-05-07T17:04:19Z")
Me too! Pudding pops that is ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-some-consumers-really-are-cursed/687853/23 "2014-05-07T17:09:40Z")
I’d be willing to bet that the retailers are trying to identify these people so they can try to use them in focus groups before launch to try and pre-emptively identify market lemons like Crystal Pepsi before they set these duds loose on the general public. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-some-consumers-really-are-cursed/687853/24 "2014-05-07T17:13:29Z")
In a similar manner, if my wife likes a restaurant you can guarantee it will be out of business within three months. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-some-consumers-really-are-cursed/687853/25 "2014-05-07T17:32:40Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I am one of those people. I addressed it here: > [What stuff did "They" stop making just because you like it? - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=698822) > > I have a BlackBerry, drive a Saturn (my second one, and I owned an AMC Pacer for 11 years before that), and I still use a Palm Pilot. Oo! I still use a Palm Pilot, too. I have a Tungsten-C, and I love the little thing. I need to get a new battery for it, though. And they’re still made! ---
**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 7, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-some-consumers-really-are-cursed/687853/26 "2014-05-07T17:42:21Z")
> [@Algher](#): > > My wife and I had a run of favorite restaurants that would soon go under as soon as we became established regulars. Yep. I actually feel sorry for the owners and employees of any local restaurant that my wife and I like. They knoweth not what awaits. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-some-consumers-really-are-cursed/687853/27 "2014-05-07T18:03:30Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > But the product comes with a free Frogurt. The Frogurt is also cursed. But you get your choice of toppings. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-some-consumers-really-are-cursed/687853/28 "2014-05-07T18:21:02Z")
> [@Algher](#): > > My wife and I had a run of favorite restaurants that would soon go under as soon as we became established regulars. > [@Laggard](#): > > In a similar manner, if my wife likes a restaurant you can guarantee it will be out of business within three months. Yeah, but you people always conclude the evening by smashing all the plates in the fireplace. After a while, the management just got tired of it. 😉 > [@Morgyn](#): > > Oo! I still use a Palm Pilot, too. I have a Tungsten-C, and I love the little thing. > > I need to get a new battery for it, though. And they’re still made! I have a Palm T|X, and the online part of it has about 15 years of calendar in it. Not just appointments, but comments, and stuff I want to keep. I had a thread here once about migrating the calendar to a Google calendar or even the Outlook calendar, but I never did it. Lost my nerve. I didn’t know they still made them. I think I knew you could buy refurbished ones on amazon. How do you get a new battery? I didn’t think you could replace the battery. But it definitely doesn’t hold a charge the way it used to. (Hell, neither do I. :rolleyes: ) ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-some-consumers-really-are-cursed/687853/29 "2014-05-07T18:25:53Z")
Wouldn’t these consumers be invaluable for use in market research? Just get them in a room, test your product ideas on them, see what they prefer, and then shitcan it before it ever hits the stores. ---
**Author:** ![Stormcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/0ea827/32.png) [@Stormcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stormcrow)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-some-consumers-really-are-cursed/687853/30 "2014-05-07T18:29:10Z")
> [@sinjin](#): > > Hahahahahaha I owned a Gremlin and a Ford Pinto and lived to tell the tale. I was about to say this sounds like a self-correcting problem… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-some-consumers-really-are-cursed/687853/31 "2014-05-07T18:55:21Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Wouldn’t these consumers be invaluable for use in market research? Just get them in a room, test your product ideas on them, see what they prefer, and then shitcan it before it ever hits the stores. That’s kind of what the article is saying. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-some-consumers-really-are-cursed/687853/32 "2014-05-07T19:38:31Z")
> [@sinjin](#): > > Hahahahahaha I owned a Gremlin and a Ford Pinto and lived to tell the tale. One of my sisters drove Dad’s old '71 Pinto all through college and medical school. Would have been my first car but one of my brothers got to it before I could. It was burning oil by then, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-some-consumers-really-are-cursed/687853/33 "2014-05-07T19:53:24Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Wouldn’t these consumers be invaluable for use in market research? Just get them in a room, test your product ideas on them, see what they prefer, and then shitcan it before it ever hits the stores. I’ve wondered if I could get companies to pay me NOT to buy their products. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-some-consumers-really-are-cursed/687853/34 "2014-05-07T22:42:31Z")
I use a Zune. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-some-consumers-really-are-cursed/687853/35 "2014-05-07T23:48:50Z")
It could be some people just like novel stuff, and novel stuff is much less likely to make it. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2014, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-some-consumers-really-are-cursed/687853/36 "2014-05-08T02:02:01Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I have a Palm T|X, and the online part of it has about 15 years of calendar in it. Not just appointments, but comments, and stuff I want to keep. I had a thread here once about migrating the calendar to a Google calendar or even the Outlook calendar, but I never did it. Lost my nerve. > > I didn’t know they still made them. I think I knew you could buy refurbished ones on amazon. How do you get a new battery? I didn’t think you could replace the battery. But it definitely doesn’t hold a charge the way it used to. (Hell, neither do I. :rolleyes: ) The batteries are still made, apparently. [I found this one on Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000V5DA42/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2FDU4IX0A8NCA&coliid=I2N2O41WNC59SU). If they sell it for the C, most likely they have one for the T|X. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2014, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-some-consumers-really-are-cursed/687853/37 "2014-05-08T05:50:59Z")
I’m still bummed out that Heinz discontinued ketchup with chopped onion bits in it. I bought that back sometime in the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2014, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-some-consumers-really-are-cursed/687853/38 "2014-05-08T12:33:30Z")
I don’t understand why I am the cursed consumer of the Black and White Cookie, despite it being delicious AND made famous on Seinfeld years ago. Yes, you can buy them in NYC. I’m talking about the packaged ones sold elsewhere that look and taste exactly like the NYC ones. Every so often I find a convenience store or a coffee place that sells them. Despite my regular purchases and developing warm, personal relationships with the store managers (“Seriously, sir, I will be buying them every day for years”), within a month they disappear from their stock. This has happened to me three times in two different states. It’s been a roller coaster of drought and satiation. I should probably just man up and move to NYC. ps Yes, I’m a woman, but women can man up, too. It’s in the rulebook. edit for typo ---
**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 8, 2014, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-some-consumers-really-are-cursed/687853/39 "2014-05-08T12:37:25Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > One of my sisters drove Dad’s old '71 Pinto all through college and medical school. However did she get it through the doors? :eek: Ba dum bump [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-turns-out-some-consumers-really-are-cursed/687853.md?page=1)