I just have to ask....

[toocute]

Originally posted by Ideal08:
Washington D.C. streets are named alphabetically. Why is there no J street?

Oh my God...you have to tell me!!!! When I went to school in DC I wondered the same thing.

[Rain Man]

If you are a George Carlin fan, then I STRONGLY advise you to get the book "Brain Droppings". It asks thousands of "silly questions like the ones you all are asking.

But there is also a book (several as a matter of fact), that actually has answers to a lot of these questions, entitled "Why Things Are", Vol. I & II by Joel Achenbach (pronounced OCK-N-BOCK). He is a nationally syndicated columnist that answers one or two questions weekly in a lot of newspaper markets, and is billed as Mr. Know It All.

Hope this helps.

RM

[Miami1839]

What about Intercourse, Pennsylvania? LOL One time when I went up there with my parents we were talking of getting shirts from there. One night when we were having dinner there I told them about getting lost on the roads there looking for Intercourse. Kind of a long story. But it was really funny when we started talking about getting t-shirts. Guess you'd have to be there.

Kevin

[AXO Alum]

Originally posted by ZetaAce:
Is anyone else amazed by the post office? I know it sounds weird, but think about ALLLLLLLLLLLL of the mail that is sent everyday!! Then think about how they seperate it all and get it to the right place almost 99% of the time. I find that amazing.

ZetaAce

Me too! And then when I get all bent out of shape because a letter or something has been misplaced, I have to stop and think....hmmm is it just me? Because I feel like the only one that has ever had mail lost or misdirected (and of course ONLY when its important stuff!)

I also have to add in this -- why do hotels go to all the trouble of skipping the number 13 on their floors -- when the 13th floor will be there, regardless. In other words, just because you call the 13th floor the 14th floor, doesn't mean its still not physically the 13th floor!! See stuff like this just drives me insane.

About the tall old people -- isn't it true that the life expectancy of tall/bigger things is shorter than "average" things? Like you always hear about big dogs only living 8 to 10 years, but a small or medium size dog can live 16-18 years. That's what I've always heard anyway. I dunno....

Glad everyone can appreciate the total randomness of this whole post !

Oh - I hate the radio...I only listen to talk shows in the mornings, and books on tape or CD's at night. I got WAY too sick of hearing the same stuff repeated. Especially when that "Give Me One Reason" song came out -- my alarm would go off at 6:10 am everyday, and that song would be playing!!! Sheesh - I felt like I was stuck in "Groundhog Day" or something.

Geez, my new nickname should be the next big Kenny Rogers hit...."The Rambler"

[SuperXO]

Originally posted by Ideal08:
Here are a few imponderables from the book:

Why is the telephone touch-tone key pad arranged differently from the calculator key pad?

Oh! I have to know that one! It irritates me so much because I use both at work constantly and I am so tired of hitting wrong keys!

I am sure everyone has heard, "If 7-11 or Circle K or Denny's or whatever is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, why do they have locks on their door?"

awesome thread!

[Siobhan]

Originally posted by Miami1839:
What about Intercourse, Pennsylvania?

Kevin

Try Dildo, Newfoundland....

[Allie_XO]

Originally posted by Siobhan:

Try Dildo, Newfoundland....

Climax, Georgia??

I know that one isn't too bad, but I say a church van from there once, and this is what it said:

Climax Baptist Church. Come and Be Moved.

I seriously thought it was a joke, until a bunch of children poured out of the van. Then I knew it wasn't a joke. And laughed so hard I cried!

<Allie pick her mind out of the gutter, dusts it off, and stuffs it back through her ear.>

Why do all radio stations go to commercials at the same time?

Why do grocery stores play Muzak? It doesn't help me shop!

Why do polls have someone or somethings at 1% with a +/-4% error rate?

Allie

[Allie_XO]

Ooooo - one more thing!

When someone asks "Can you hold?" what would happen if you said "No"???

I really wish I had the cajones to do that!

[SuperXO]

How about when people say, "ew, this tastes horrible...here, taste it!" and we always take them up on the offer. Why do I taste something that I know will be awful...morbid curiosity, I guess!

[Miami1839]

Siobhan and Allie_XO:

I almost died when I saw those posts. LOL
I took a Statistics course once where the 4 percent rule was explained me. I just understand it to mean that polls have a margin of error of 4 percent. Meaning they could go either way. Maybe theres more to it. The why part of it I'm not sure.

Kevin

[This message has been edited by Miami1839 (edited March 07, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Miami1839 (edited March 07, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Miami1839 (edited March 07, 2001).]

[SuperXO]

here's a real question for any of you who have ever worked retail. Do you hate it when people ask, "are there any more in the back?" Maybe it's just my friends and family, but they're always asking salespeople that question and we always get the same answer, "No, everything we have is out here." So, I wonder, is there even really a "back" or is it all a myth? Or maybe it's just me...

[amycat412]

I worked for the limited, and express in college and we did have a small amount of stock in the back.

[chloeishere]

I worked at Banana Republic for a long while, and they definitely had lots in the back. It was about a quarter of the size of the store which was quite large. Every one i have been in was similar. Unfortunately, if a customer asked if something was in the back, sometimes the sales associates would pretend to look or say it definitely wasn't back there(usually they were very helpful, but even the best get tired). Someone from my highschool came in and after getting this runaround from my manager, asked me, and I found at least fifteen leather coats in the back. They were just difficult to reach, and she didn't want to make an effort. Now there's this cool system that lets you scan the ticket and look up on the register if there are any in the back and how many. It doesn't account for today's sales, though. I think every BR can do this not just our store. Here's something that sucks though. I doubt I got credit for selling that guy from my school a jacket. The managers who worked the register consistently sold thousands more dollars in merchandise than the sales associates who were actually selling the merchandise. It made me very mad. Grrr.

[This message has been edited by chloeishere (edited March 07, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by chloeishere (edited March 07, 2001).]

[Serenity]

Originally posted by SuperXO:
How about when people say, "ew, this tastes horrible...here, taste it!" and we always take them up on the offer. Why do I taste something that I know will be awful...morbid curiosity, I guess!

That is so true. My husband gets upset because I never taste it (whatever it is). Yuck! He'll eat almost anything. So, if he doesn't like it....

[MIDWESTDIVA]

Originally posted by sigmagrrl:
I have one. WHO DETERMINES THE RADIO PLAY LISTS AT THEIR RESPECTIVE STATIONS?? The local DC radio stations SUCK AZZ and I want to get into their stations, put some REAL music on and start to wake people up!!! I mean, why do they play the SAME songs OVER AND OVER?? Also, why do stations only play certain songs from an artist's album? Is it a legal agreement?

I have been wondering about this for ages. I mean, it doesn't make sense. If an artist has a CD that has 10 songs on it, why does the radio station only play 2 of the songs?




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"Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth." ~Mohammed Ali