1) This strip and the
several that follow it are dedicated to a) anyone who has ever
helped me move, b) anyone who has ever helped my friend Uli move,
and c) my friend Uli. As many have observed, Uli's
room has to
have been bigger on the
inside; there is absolutely no way he could have fit all his stuff
into even a small house, let alone a moderate-sized residence
suite. Obviously, magic was involved. 2) The results of the mayonnaise survey are in. Before I reveal them, I should note that my methods were completely unscientific in every possible way. I gathered only rudimentary data (as a friend of mine has pointed out); I varied modes of information collection (pub data...e-mail data...asking-everyone-at-a-certain-barbecue data); Ileft the interpretation of "like" and "dislike" up to the respondents. However, I am in English and therefore unfettered by the requirements of the Scientific Method. Let's move on. The questions were: What gender are you? Do you like mayonnaise? What I got was: Eleven people were involved in the original pub survey. Twenty-nine people responded via e-mail, and five of them also mentioned the mayonnaise preferences of their SOs. Two people responded as they walked past me in the library. Sixteen people responded when I confronted them at the barbecue. In total, then, there were sixty-three respondents, thirty-two female and thirty-one male. Their responses can be broken down as follows: Thirty-three people (52% of the total number of respondents) like mayonnaise; 30 (48%) don't. Seventeen women (27% of the total; 53% of the female respondents) like mayonnaise. Fifteen women (24%; 47%) do not like mayonnaise. Sixteen men (25% of the total; 52% of the male respondents) like mayonnaise. Fifteen men (24%; 48%) do not like mayonnaise. Interestingly, if I remove the data for the original pub group (five women liking mayonnaise and six men not liking it) from consideration, I end up with 44% of women liking mayonnaise, 56% of women not liking it, 64% of men liking it, and 36% of men not liking it. I am not sure what conclusions to draw here. People inclined to visit the pub with me on the day I convocate are evidently more likely to like mayonnaise if female and dislike it if male than the general population...or at least the part of the general population consisting of people who read WoB and/or attend barbecues in the Massey College quadrangle on Saturday evenings in June. I do find it interesting that mayonnaise, a relatively mild-tasting condiment that is not pickled, spicy, or deliberately left to rot during the preparation process, inspires such strong feelings in people. One interesting story gleaned from my mayonnaise survey: A male respondent who likes mayonnaise writes that he only once came close to being repulsed by it: when he ordered a sundae and received a concoction that seemed to be made mainly of mayonnaise, albeit with a small amount of ice cream and "other liquid ingredients" (his phrase) mixed in. I like mayonnaise, but...ew. Thanks go out to all respondents, even those still puzzled as to why I initiated this survey in the first place. (P.S.: For some more thoughts on condiments, see the June 30 entry on my Rants page.) |
Monday, June 30, 2008 |
Panel 1: One of the corridors at Davies College is absolutely full of boxes from floor to ceiling. Marie peeks out from behind them. Panel 2: Marie eases her way over some of the boxes. Panel 3: Marie squeezes between some of the boxes. Panel 4: Barbara appears, carrying a box. Barbara: I see you've noticed the first tenth of my packing. Marie: Is your room bigger on the inside? Alt-Text: Barbara's room is like the series of uber-Narnias in _The Last Battle_, except without the xenophobia. Go to commentary |
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