Crowds and long lines of shoppers are by far what people dread most about this time of year. But more surprisingly, 35 million Americans actually despise “having to be nice” during the holidays, according to our recent poll.
Our survey, asked people what (if anything) they dread most about the holidays. A whopping 90 percent noted there’s at least one thing that they stress over during the year-end festivities. Along with the chief complaint of holiday crowds, “gaining weight” and “getting into debt” both tied for second-place in top holiday woes among survey respondents.
“For all the chatter about nostalgia, family fun and gift giving this time of year, many people don’t like too much of a good thing,” said Tod Marks, senior editor at Consumer Reports.
Holiday Jeers
1.Crowds and long lines: 68 percent
2.Gaining weight: 37 percent
3.Getting into debt: 37 percent
4.Gift shopping: 28 percent
5.Traveling: 25 percent
6.Seeing certain relatives: 24 percent
7.Seasonal music: 23 percent
8.Disappointing gifts: 19 percent
9.Having to attend holiday parties or events: 16 percent
10.Having to be nice: 15 percent
11.Holiday tipping: 12 percent
Many different types of crowd disturbance have bubbled up during 2011, but perhaps the oddest category has been the “flash mob robbery,” or “flash rob.”
It’s a fad that started in Washington, D.C. back in April, when around 20 people filed into a high-end jeans store in Dupont Circle and quickly made off with $20,000 in stock. Since then, the practice has spread — Dallas, Las Vegas, Ottawa, and Upper Darby, Pa. have all reported incidents since then — though the targets have gotten a bit more downscale, with most of the thefts taking place in convenience stores.
The latest crowd theft took place Saturday night at a 7-Eleven in Silver Spring, Md., and it fit the familiar pattern. Kids pour into the store, calmly help themselves to merchandise, and then stream out again:
Scientists have discovered another reason why those empty cans of SpaghettiO’s littering your apartment won’t get you laid: Something in the packaging could make you impotent.
Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health fed human subjects canned food for a five-day period, The Atlantic reports. They wanted to measure how much BPA — a chemical released from metal cans and plastic bottles — actually wound up in the human guinea pigs’ systems, as the substance is linked to health problems ranging from diabetes to cancer to erectile dysfunction.
What the scientists found: Urine samples from the 75 volunteers showed that eating a can of soup per day prompts a 1,221 percent increase in BPA levels.
The fact that Microsoft sold 960,000 Xbox 360s last week is impressive all by itself. Selling 800,00 of those in just 24 hours is insane. Impressive Kinect numbers too.
Sales highlights in the U.S. during the week of Black Friday include: Xbox 360 sold more than 960,000 consoles in the U.S. alone, of which more than 800,000 were sold within a period of 24 hours – the biggest week of sales in Xbox history. More than 750,000 Kinect for Xbox 360 sensors were sold in the U.S. – standalone and bundled.
