# What do you refuse to do out of principle? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 6, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428 "2010-08-06T17:56:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428/21 "2010-08-06T21:31:56Z")
Shop at Wal-Mart, patronize U-Haul, or lie to my children. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428/22 "2010-08-06T21:32:47Z")
I refuse to not roll my eyes at people who go out of their way to say how much they hate Oprah’s book club. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428/23 "2010-08-06T21:54:31Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > What if you’ve read it before Oprah picks it for her list? I happened to read _The Poisonwood Bible_ by Barbara Kingsolver several months before she picked it. I read \*Night \*by Elie Wiesel YEARS before she picked it. Gaaaaaa! Stop confusing the issue! I guess I should say I go out of my way to avoid reading books that are advertised as being on Oprah’s list. If I read it before it was on the list, it doesn’t count. 😛 Sheesh. There go my principles. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428/24 "2010-08-06T22:02:21Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > > [@Sigmagirl](#): > > > > I get that all the time, particularly with books. I answer, “No, I don’t. I _might_ read it, but I don’t _have_ to.” > > Me – have anything to do with smoking. When my husband’s grandmother was in the nursing home, the only two things she wanted were chocolate pudding and cigarettes. I would buy the chocolate pudding, but no, I was not going to provide cigarettes, not even to comfort a little old lady in her last days. Some 25 years ago my sister used to bully me into giving her money to buy her cigarettes; I still regret that I was intimidated, though she would have stolen the money from me anyway had I not. ☹ > > Well, that’s just mean. If she’s “in her last days” why should she have any additional stress? Would it prolong her life expectancy in any meaningful way to quit cold turkey? Sheesh. I bought her the pudding instead. She was happy with either, so I had a choice. I made it. I’d rather support the pudding industry. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428/25 "2010-08-06T22:22:08Z")
Wear any article of clothing that is uncomfortable, just because it’s “what people do.” For example, high heels. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428/26 "2010-08-06T22:31:44Z")
See or read anything that has vampires in it. I am so sick of those undead emos. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428/27 "2010-08-06T22:40:05Z")
Drink “Gallo” wine. Ernest Gallo bought out the family vineyard thirty years before I was born, and my great-grandmother never forgave him. I refuse to drink that wine in her honor. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428/28 "2010-08-06T22:52:28Z")
I didn’t think I had any principles until I read the veal thing. I won’t support that industry, and I don’t care for lamb, so that’s not a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428/29 "2010-08-06T23:16:23Z")
Put my daughter in a children’s beauty pageant. She keeps begging me to enter her in one, but I refuse to raise another JonBenet. I’m just glad we don’t live in an an area where everyone and their daughter has been a pageant contestant at some point, otherwise it would be much harder. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428/30 "2010-08-06T23:23:23Z")
Oh, I forgot my other big one–I refuse to open any piece of mail that’s addressed to “Mrs. \ \.” I make the spouse open them, citing the fact that the person it’s addressed to doesn’t exist, and he’s the closest to it. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428/31 "2010-08-06T23:30:20Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > Nothing. I found out a long time ago that there is nothing I am not capable of doing. There might be things I am not physically capable of doing but I don’t think that counts. > > Once a person finds this out, their tolerance and acceptance of others goes way up. > > Always remember and never forget, there are impossible choices out there and having to make them sucks. > > If you are not willing to kill or die over it, it is not worth fighting about. > > YMMV MMDNV (My Mileage Does Not Vary) - As fucked up as it sounds when you’re in your 20s, this is pretty close to the truth for me (just turned 40). ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428/32 "2010-08-07T01:49:58Z")
I will not eat veal. ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428/33 "2010-08-07T02:04:02Z")
Among other things, I refuse to: Eat pork, veal, and lamb. Watch Oprah. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428/34 "2010-08-07T02:48:57Z")
I have a lot: 1. Apple products: the first time Jobs left the company, they made some real crap like the Apple IIGS and nearly went bankrupt. I also think the iTouch/iPhone is what stupid people use instead of a real laptop. I don’t know which one insults me more. The iTouch, to me, is pretty much the crappiest laptop money can buy, and I can buy netbooks for the same price. The iPhone seems to do a great job at everything except being a phone. 2. Vote: I’ve been a conscientious objector to the so-called “American democracy” since I was old enough to understand that we don’t have a true democracy (in real democracies, there are more than 2 parties who can possibly win a major race.) “Either-or” is the antithesis of what “democracy” is supposed to mean. 3. Buy flowers as gifts: My mother was a hobbyist. We had about 10k plants at our house at any given time. Flowers are just parasites like rats or ants but are much harder to keep alive. In my opinion, cut flowers spend more time being dead than being alive, and there’s a lot of tricks you can do to make them _look_ alive. If you’re lucky, a bouquet will last 24 hours before turning brown (with expert care.) Imho, you’re better off using money to wipe your ass and flushing it down the toilet. That, at least, is more useful than flowers. ---
**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:** [August 7, 2010, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428/35 "2010-08-07T03:10:07Z")
I refuse to kowtow to any management-type person who can’t acknowledge an employee with 30 years service (like me) as somebody who really knows what is going on “in the trenches”. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428/36 "2010-08-07T03:22:12Z")
Visit Burma. ---
**Author:** ![NetTrekker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nettrekker/32/2909_2.png) [@NetTrekker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NetTrekker)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428/37 "2010-08-07T03:46:17Z")
> [@Lucky\_13](#): > > Put my daughter in a children’s beauty pageant. She keeps begging me to enter her in one, but I refuse to raise another JonBenet. I’m just glad we don’t live in an an area where everyone and their daughter has been a pageant contestant at some point, otherwise it would be much harder. I don’t like those children’s beauty pageants either, but if your daughter is interested in that kind of thing maybe she could find something similar like dance lessons/recitals or some type of theater. I think that would be a great experience for a kid to learn to be in front of an audience and perform…and very useful in adulthood. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428/38 "2010-08-07T04:06:48Z")
I keep thinking of things but they’re not really things I choose to do “out of principle” rather things that I don’t do because I don’t like doing it or there’s a better option. For example, I don’t buy albums on iTunes unless they’re iTunes exclusives, I buy them on CD (I do buy singles on iTunes). This is sorta kinda a principle because I think they’re way, way too expensive, but the main reason is because I like physical more than I like digital. Is there a difference? If you don’t watch Oprah because you don’t like Oprah, are you really doing that “out of principle”, or are you just doing something very normal, that is choosing not to watch something you don’t like? I thought doing something out of principle was more like not having much of an opinion on Oprah, or even actively liking the Oprah show, but not watching because she wore fur and you were anti-fur (or something like that). ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428/39 "2010-08-07T04:11:09Z")
Buy goods made in Israel. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428/40 "2010-08-07T04:34:45Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > The iTouch, to me, is pretty much the crappiest laptop money can buy, and I can buy netbooks for the same price. But will a netbook fit in your pocket? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-refuse-to-do-out-of-principle/549428.md?page=3)