# What are your most unpopular opinions? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 14, 2013, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645 "2013-04-14T00:24:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 33
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/641 "2013-08-15T01:37:33Z")
There is no reason to celebrate Thanksgiving or to observe Columbus day. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/642 "2013-08-15T01:42:29Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > There is no reason to celebrate Thanksgiving or to observe Columbus day. Thanksgiving I see (my favorite holiday), but does anyone really give a shit about Columbus Day? I barely know when it is. October, I think. I mean, does one really “celebrate” Columbus Day? It’s about as celebrated as Flag Day or President’s Day in my experience. I’ve never heard of anyone doing anything for it. Maybe there’s a parade, but I couldn’t tell you for sure. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/643 "2013-08-15T22:19:18Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Thanksgiving I see (my favorite holiday), but does anyone really give a shit about Columbus Day? I barely know when it is. October, I think. I mean, does one really “celebrate” Columbus Day? It’s about as celebrated as Flag Day or President’s Day in my experience. I’ve never heard of anyone doing anything for it. Maybe there’s a parade, but I couldn’t tell you for sure. It’s observed as a day off from mail delivery and possibly for school, though I’m not sure of that. It should be treated just like any other day. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/644 "2013-08-15T22:23:25Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > There is no reason to celebrate Thanksgiving or to observe Columbus day. Yes there is. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Thanksgiving I see (my favorite holiday), but does anyone really give a shit about Columbus Day? I barely know when it is. October, I think. I mean, does one really “celebrate” Columbus Day? It’s about as celebrated as Flag Day or President’s Day in my experience. I’ve never heard of anyone doing anything for it. Maybe there’s a parade, but I couldn’t tell you for sure. I celebrate it. I get the day off. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/645 "2013-08-15T23:48:48Z")
The “cloud” data storage scheme is a hacker’s dream come true - just get into one of the servers, and wait until something tasty comes along - or follow a file as it gets passed around - you’ll see the entire place in time. I haven’t seen this since the mainframes - and people were wild at the idea of having _their_ data on _their_ personal machine (even if, as did Levi Strauss, they spent 10 years passing data out to anyone who asked, then found themselves with no idea of who had what, or if their copies were current, and then started moving everything back to somewhere they could secure and back up/restore. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/646 "2013-08-16T00:47:10Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Thanksgiving I see (my favorite holiday), but does anyone really give a shit about Columbus Day? I barely know when it is. October, I think. I mean, does one really “celebrate” Columbus Day? It’s about as celebrated as Flag Day or President’s Day in my experience. I’ve never heard of anyone doing anything for it. Maybe there’s a parade, but I couldn’t tell you for sure. Thanksgiving is my least favorite holiday. I have gone on diatribes against it before so there is no need to repeat it here but my primary political platform when I run for something???! is going to be to abolish Thanksgiving or, at the very least, move it to a better time. There is no reason for Halloween, the most pure and joyous of holidays, to suffer because of its proximity to a useless and made up holiday that is ALWAYS scheduled on a Thursday. There is the reason why the day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday. It is because Thanksgiving is evil and turns everyone towards the dark side. I say promote Halloween to a national holiday and either ban Thanksgiving or move it to a time when it can’t do any harm to the better holidays that it sucks energy from. We already have a holiday celebrating gluttony in America. It is called EveryDay. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/647 "2013-08-16T01:35:00Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Thanksgiving is my least favorite holiday. I have gone on diatribes against it before so there is no need to repeat it here but my primary political platform when I run for something???! is going to be to abolish Thanksgiving or, at the very least, move it to a better time. You’re welcome to move it. Just give me a holiday that’s about family, friends, food, and drink, without the stress of gift-giving and all that. Independence Day is probably the closest I get to that, but I don’t really celebrate it, and there’s no football on TV. Thanksgiving is just such a nice, low-stress holiday, at least the way my family and friends have always celebrated it. It’s like an idealized version of Christmas to me. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/648 "2013-08-16T17:41:12Z")
Unpopular, you say. This one is so unpopular it would have gotten me fired back when I was a teacher. Universal Education is a waste of time and resources. Starting at some age, probably around grade 7, children should be evaluated as to whether they should continue on in their education. Probably get rid of 20% at this time with another 5% or so per grade until 12th grade. I’m not saying these chidren should be thrown out in the streets, but they should be trained for other things. There should also be a way for children to switch back/second chance…but it should take a goodly effort for a child to be able to do it. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/649 "2013-08-16T19:04:42Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > Unpopular, you say. This one is so unpopular it would have gotten me fired back when I was a teacher. > > Universal Education is a waste of time and resources. Starting at some age, probably around grade 7, children should be evaluated as to whether they should continue on in their education. Probably get rid of 20% at this time with another 5% or so per grade until 12th grade. > > I’m not saying these chidren should be thrown out in the streets, but they should be trained for other things. There should also be a way for children to switch back/second chance…but it should take a goodly effort for a child to be able to do it. I fully agree, and the majority of my college colleagues do as well. We just have to be careful where we say it. We have far, far too many people who somehow made it to college who will never be able to get through even the remedial classes, yet they all think they’re going to be doctors, lawyers, airline pilots, you name it. And then there are those who would have great skills in vocations, but it isn’t necessary to go to college for those vocations. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/650 "2013-08-16T19:07:31Z")
My unpopular (?) opinions regarding the dead: 1. Organ donation should be mandatory or at least strongly encouraged, perhaps compensated. People need to get over their religious objections to donation. The dead can no longer use their organs. 2. Casket burials are a waste of money and resources. Cremation is cheaper and all it does is speed up a process that would have occurred anyway. 3. There is entirely too much water and groundskeeping allotted to cemeteries/ memorial parks. The grass does not need to be green. Cut it now and then, sure, but don’t overdo it. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/651 "2013-08-16T19:14:19Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > You’re welcome to move it. Just give me a holiday that’s about family, friends, food, and drink, without the stress of gift-giving and all that. Independence Day is probably the closest I get to that, but I don’t really celebrate it, and there’s no football on TV. Thanksgiving is just such a nice, low-stress holiday, at least the way my family and friends have always celebrated it. It’s like an idealized version of Christmas to me. 8 hours of cooking (and a lot of clean-up) for 20 minutes of eating? I’ll pass. If only more restaurants were open. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/652 "2013-08-17T14:14:35Z")
I don’t need to formulate my own unpopular opinions: I just synthesize current popular beliefs while randomly changing channels on Daytime TV and I get the same result. For example: 1. Women dislike men 2. Sex is the most important thing to men 3. Men denied sex because of 1 will resort to bisexuality, with the least masculine partners 4. Asian men are generally smaller and less hairy than white and Black men 5. Asian mothers are “Tiger Moms” 6. Overhearing mothers turn their sons into homosexuals 7. Everybody’s happy, and I deserve to be flamed. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/653 "2013-08-17T14:16:40Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > I don’t need to formulate my own unpopular opinions: I just synthesize current popular beliefs while randomly changing channels on Daytime TV and I get the same result. For example: > 6. **Overhearing** mothers turn their sons into homosexuals That’ll teach 'em to eavesdrop! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/654 "2013-08-17T14:19:06Z")
Calling for neutering and outlawing pit bull type dogs is always good for threats to my person. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/655 "2013-08-17T14:46:14Z")
> [@elisabeta](#): > > Hello, long time lurker here. Here it goes: > > I don’t like dogs. I think feminism is a bad thing. I think massive numbers of women entering the work field was not a good thing. I don’t care about having a career. I hate the word “career”. I would rather wear a burka and be the “oppressed” wife of a Muslim than being a western career woman. I think one’s 20’s are not for “finding yourself” and “experimenting”. I think women secretly want to be housewives. I secretly pity never married 30-something women. I love titanic. I dislike gay pride. I think Vladimir Putin is the hottest man on the planet, J K Simmons being a close second. I love love love Russian’s legislation towards gay “propaganda”. And many many more… In a thread for unpopular opinions, where folks are submitting things like, “I believe that complex life is probably not common in the universe”, you, my dear, are a breath of fresh air. I believe that poor people in this country who are born into poverty, to uneducated parents and go to poorly run public schools and have little hope of ever really coming out of poverty…I believe people like that shouldn’t be judged for buying flashy rims for their cars, or fancy sneakers. If your job doesn’t pay you enough to really escape the ghetto, but pays you enough to indulge some whims sometimes, go ahead and indulge. Fuck it. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/656 "2013-08-17T17:31:15Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > I believe that poor people in this country who are born into poverty, to uneducated parents and go to poorly run public schools and have little hope of ever really coming out of poverty…I believe people like that shouldn’t be judged for buying flashy rims for their cars, or fancy sneakers. If your job doesn’t pay you enough to really escape the ghetto, but pays you enough to indulge some whims sometimes, go ahead and indulge. Fuck it. I’ll go further than that and admit I believe poor people who are derided for being “irrational” or not attempting to escape poverty/their community are in fact behaving rationally. There is little rational about living a life of absolute deprivation in the faint chance of being able to abandon your family/friends and transplant yourself into a area and lifestyle where you will have to completely change yourself to maybe possibly fit in and be accepted. All so you can impress some upper middle class people with your bootstrappyness and the adoption of their values. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/657 "2013-08-17T17:54:52Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > In a thread for unpopular opinions, where folks are submitting things like, “I believe that complex life is probably not common in the universe”, you, my dear, are a breath of fresh air. > > I believe that poor people in this country who are born into poverty, to uneducated parents and go to poorly run public schools and have little hope of ever really coming out of poverty…I believe people like that shouldn’t be judged for buying flashy rims for their cars, or fancy sneakers. If your job doesn’t pay you enough to really escape the ghetto, but pays you enough to indulge some whims sometimes, go ahead and indulge. Fuck it. They could probably pay a deposit on an apartment in a better neighborhood with the money they spent on these things. :rolleyes: And don’t get me started on people who do this while their children go without necessities. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/658 "2013-08-17T18:10:55Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > They could probably pay a deposit on an apartment in a better neighborhood with the money they spent on these things. :rolleyes: The funny thing about apartments is that they usually like to get rent every single month. Renting a place you can’t afford is actually a worse decision that buying rims you can’t afford. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/659 "2013-08-17T22:34:00Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > The funny thing about apartments is that they usually like to get rent every single month. Renting a place you can’t afford is actually a worse decision that buying rims you can’t afford. The inability to come up with money for a deposit can restrict a person’s ability to move more than greater rent, and it’s also not uncommon for rent in a better area to be the same, or sometimes even less, than “low rent” areas. And there’s also no substitute for living in a safe place, too. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/660 "2013-08-17T22:54:49Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > The inability to come up with money for a deposit can restrict a person’s ability to move more than greater rent, and it’s also not uncommon for rent in a better area to be the same, or sometimes even less, than “low rent” areas. And there’s also no substitute for living in a safe place, too. Who even says they want to move? I’d rather live in a not-great area and be able to afford a few extras than to put all my money into living in a kinda-nice area, and still be poor, but also rimless (just kidding…I am rimless. But I do have other stuff). But no, deposit-money-spent-on-rims is not keeping anyone from moving from an expensive slum to, for some reason, a cheaper nicer area. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645.md?page=32) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645.md?page=34)