2/9/24 - Bad Zoom Etiquette, The Love Boat, and A $Billion or Hiccupps

Friday 2/9/24

Celebrate:

Chocolate Day

International Winter Bike to Work Day

National Cut the Cord Day

National Develop Alternatives Vices Day

National No One Eats Alone Day

National Toothache Day

Pizza Pie Day

Read in the Bathtub Day

The Inbox Day

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67.8 million Americans will bet on the Super Bowl.  And they won't just gamble on who wins the game.

Will Reba McEntire greet the crowd before singing the "Star Spangled Banner" with "Howdy" or "Hey, ya'll"?

Which respected celebrity will most disappoint us for selling out to hawk M&M's?

What quarter will Jason Kelce strip naked?

When Taylor Swift arrives, will her helicopter land in the middle of the field? 

How many ads for summer movies will feature a fireball, lasers, or a flying motorcycle?

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What are the WORST things you can do during those meetings? 

A poll gave people a long list of controversial behaviors, and asked people whether they are NEVER acceptable during a Zoom . . . always acceptable . . . or only acceptable for "informal meetings."

In the end, having a TV on in the background was the biggest no-no . . . so don't have "The View" blaring behind you.  77% of people said that's never acceptable.

Here are the other ones that a majority of people said were NEVER cool:

Vaping . . . 76% say it's never acceptable.

Smoking . . . 75%

Drinking an alcoholic drink . . . 74%. 

Having music playing in the background . . . 70%

Working on something unrelated to the meeting . . . 67% 

Wearing sunglasses . . . 64%

Eating a meal . . . 61%

Wearing your pajamas . . . 61%

Having your child sit on your lap . . . 54%

Having other people in the room . . . 54%

On the other end of the spectrum, only 17% of people said it's unacceptable to have a non-alcoholic drink, like water or soda.  53% said that's ALWAYS cool.

Things that were more cool in INFORMAL meetings include:  Sitting on the sofa, sitting outside, eating a snack, and "having a pet sit on your lap." 

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Someone on social media asked people, "You are offered the chance to flip a coin.  Tails gets you $1 BILLION.  Heads gives you continuous, incurable hiccups for your entire life.  And not flipping the coin guarantees you both.  What do you choose?"

57% of people would flip the coin.  Mainly for the chance to skate with a billion dollars and without constant hiccups forever.  And about 43% of people would accept the hiccups if it meant they'd be a billionaire.

Again, there's no holding your breath . . . no scaring the hiccups away . . . no biting on a lemon.  They're normal hiccups, but they're not going anywhere.

One person said, "I don't even care about the money.  I just don't want the hiccups."

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Have you heard of this new trend yet?  "Scarf bombing" has been big in the northern U.S. and Canada this winter.  People are knitting scarves and leaving them in random places for anyone to take.  They usually have a note attached that says something like, "If you're stuck out in the cold, take this gift to keep warm."

I don't find this a new trend at all. When I worked on Market Street, I saw scarves and gloves on trees for the same reason.

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If you've ever dreamed of sailing on "The Love Boat", this is as close as you can get:  Princess Cruises will set sail in August with cast members from the original series.

You can spend seven days at sea with Doc (Bernie Kopell), Gopher (Fred Grandy), Isaac your bartender (Ted Lange), and Vicki Stubing (Jill Whelan). 

Gavin MacLeod, who played Captain Stubing, died in 2021.  Lauren Tewes, who played cruise director Julie McCoy, is still with us.  She's 70 years old.  No word why she's not doing the cruise.

The official dates are August 31st through September 7th, and the boat sets sail from New York City, with stops in New England and Canada.

Activities will include meet-and-greets and photo ops . . . plus vow renewal ceremonies officiated by the cast.

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This week, Nebraska's tourism commission announced that it was ditching the tagline "Nebraska:  Honestly, it's not for everyone."

It did up tourism a bit, but the Governor says it's time to retire it after only five years.

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Someone polled 1,000 Millennials and Gen Z'ers who are actively dating, and looked at what the perfect Valentine's Day date looks like in 2024.

Turns out not much has changed, and we're still pretty traditional.  The perfect date starts with flowers or a gift, and one of you should be picking the other person up.  Don't make them meet you somewhere.

After that, it's dinner and a movie.  And the night should end with, quote, "some form of togetherness." 48% want "alone time with their date," and 43% say a goodnight kiss would be ideal.

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Today's Useless Fact of the Day - Spandex got its name because it's an anagram of "expands."

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