# Things that you don't have in your house, but everyone else does **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 23, 2005, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-dont-have-in-your-house-but-everyone-else-does/337005 "2005-12-23T20:00:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Diamonds02](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Diamonds02](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diamonds02)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-dont-have-in-your-house-but-everyone-else-does/337005/1 "2005-12-23T20:00:44Z")
And why? We don’t have a coffee maker? Why? None of us like coffee! A garbage can - not in the kitchen nor on our driving way. My dad thinks that they need too much maintenance. We just use naked trash bags. A vacuum cleaner. We use brooms and handheld dirt devils to clean out carpet. My folks do not want to invest in a nice vacuum cleaner. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-dont-have-in-your-house-but-everyone-else-does/337005/2 "2005-12-23T20:03:15Z")
No coffee maker or food processor but what really freaks people out… No Iron. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-dont-have-in-your-house-but-everyone-else-does/337005/3 "2005-12-23T20:08:02Z")
No microwave oven. I live by myself and am never _that_ pressed for time. ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-dont-have-in-your-house-but-everyone-else-does/337005/4 "2005-12-23T20:12:18Z")
Television. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-dont-have-in-your-house-but-everyone-else-does/337005/5 "2005-12-23T20:19:01Z")
A bed or a couch. :eek: I sit and sleep on the floor. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-dont-have-in-your-house-but-everyone-else-does/337005/6 "2005-12-23T20:21:42Z")
A Christmas Tree. ---
**Author:** ![elfbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b782af/32.png) [@elfbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfbabe)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-dont-have-in-your-house-but-everyone-else-does/337005/7 "2005-12-23T20:22:57Z")
> [@Diamonds02](#): > > A garbage can - not in the kitchen nor on our driving way. My dad thinks that they need too much maintenance. How much maintenance can a garbage can possibly require? Put bag in can, fill with garbage, remove bag from can, replace with new bag. If you really want to get swanky, you might have to pull the lid off while you’re switching bags. I’m not seeing it. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-dont-have-in-your-house-but-everyone-else-does/337005/8 "2005-12-23T20:28:32Z")
Would the lack of a Bible count? ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-dont-have-in-your-house-but-everyone-else-does/337005/9 "2005-12-23T20:28:45Z")
> [@DeVena](#): > > …No Iron. Is that a Fairy-Folk thing? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-dont-have-in-your-house-but-everyone-else-does/337005/10 "2005-12-23T20:33:49Z")
> [@Binarydrone](#): > > Is that a Fairy-Folk thing? 😛 😕 I thought that was only Cold Iron? ---
**Author:** ![Phnord\_Prephect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Phnord\_Prephect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phnord_Prephect)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-dont-have-in-your-house-but-everyone-else-does/337005/11 "2005-12-23T21:01:39Z")
A plunger. To look at me, you’d think that’s the first thing I’d need in a new home. Nope. Been here nearly 5 years now, never needed one. :::Knock on porcelain::: ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-dont-have-in-your-house-but-everyone-else-does/337005/12 "2005-12-23T21:02:56Z")
Pictures on the walls. Napkins (paper towels all the way) ---
**Author:** ![pestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e5b9ba/32.png) [@pestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pestie)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-dont-have-in-your-house-but-everyone-else-does/337005/13 "2005-12-23T21:28:01Z")
Ordinarily I’d say a Christmas tree, but my ex-girlfriend is living with me and she bought some 2-foot-tall fiber-optic-adorned monstrosity from Wal\*Mart and set it on my kitchen table. Heh… Until I started dating my current girlfriend, I didn’t have most of the essentials for baking - pans, measuring cups, mixing bowls, that sort of stuff. I’ve never cooked or baked much of anything in my life. I swear, the first time she spent a month at my house she bought at least $200 of that crap. Oh, I didn’t own an iron or an ironing board until she came along, either. I don’t buy clothes that require ironing. Hell, neither does she - she only wanted it for her needlework fabrics. ---
**Author:** ![Lars\_Aruns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@Lars\_Aruns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lars_Aruns)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-dont-have-in-your-house-but-everyone-else-does/337005/14 "2005-12-23T21:45:18Z")
Coke, Pepsi or other carbonated soft drinks. When I was a kid, Coke was a rare treat - and even so, we drank it _diluted with water_. When I moved out, I bought lots of Coke and Dr Pepper for a while as programming fuel, but stopped soon: I found the stuff too sugary to drink frequently, so a bottle would last me two or three weeks and become horribly flat. ---
**Author:** ![the\_PC\_apeman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac8455/32.png) [@the\_PC\_apeman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_PC_apeman)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-dont-have-in-your-house-but-everyone-else-does/337005/15 "2005-12-23T21:54:16Z")
One of those steaming insert jobbers that looks like a collapsible mini satellite dish. Alton Brown tells me everyone has one - just go look. I did. I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-dont-have-in-your-house-but-everyone-else-does/337005/16 "2005-12-23T21:57:07Z")
No iron No coffee maker No garlic press No vaccuum (wood floors) ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-dont-have-in-your-house-but-everyone-else-does/337005/17 "2005-12-23T21:58:17Z")
> [@Phnord Prephect](#): > > A plunger. > > To look at me, you’d think that’s the first thing I’d need in a new home. > > Nope. Been here nearly 5 years now, never needed one. > > :::Knock on porcelain::: Wow. You should have your own Wikipedia entry under “Eternal Optimist.” ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-dont-have-in-your-house-but-everyone-else-does/337005/18 "2005-12-23T22:14:30Z")
We don’t have… - Pets - Carpet - Doorbell - Video games - Cable TV - High speed internet - Paved driveway - Close neighbors ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-dont-have-in-your-house-but-everyone-else-does/337005/19 "2005-12-23T22:50:05Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > We don’t have… > > - Doorbell > - Cable TV > - High speed internet Ditto on those for me. I have high speed Internet at work, so that might change if I were to lose my job. Doorbell never worked from Day One owning the house. I just stayed with the brass knocker; it’s never been an inconvenience. No cable is what floors my co-workers. They can’t conceive of not having hundreds of channels at the press of a button. I don’t have time to keep up with network TV, let alone cable. And $40/month makes it a budget item, and it would be much better spent on more frivolous tools for the woodworking shop. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-dont-have-in-your-house-but-everyone-else-does/337005/20 "2005-12-23T23:11:47Z")
Coffee maker Any stuff pertaining to children Video games Pictures of any people on our walls A Christmas tree (cats), or outside lights (no plug in the front of the house) That’s about all I can think of for now… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-dont-have-in-your-house-but-everyone-else-does/337005.md?page=2)