I answered the phone last night and got a pollster asking about a proposal to mandate that Florida companies with five or more employees give them paid sick leave. (A Google search yielded no such proposal in the works.)
Pollster: Do you favor such a proposal, yes or no?
Me: Yes.
Pollster: Is that a strong “yes” or a somewhat “yes”?
Me: It’s a binary question: it’s either “yes” or “no;” there’s no gradations to that kind of question.
Pollster (after a pause): I understand, but is your answer a strong “yes” or a somewhat “yes”?
Me: Yes.
Pollster: Strong or somewhat?
Me: Yes. As I said, there are only two choices. It’s like a light switch: it’s either on or off. I said Yes. Now if you had asked me “Do you favor such a law, and if so, do you favor it strongly or somewhat?” I would have been able to qualify my support. But you asked me Yes or No. I said Yes.
Pollster (longer pause): Okay, sir, that’s all the questions I have. Thank you.
Me: Who’s on first?
[Click]
Hey, I don’t have either a cat or a laser pointer. You find fun where you can.
Along those same lines, how does one qualify the average on a scale of 1 – 10. 5-1/2 is never an option, but with a scale of -5 to +5 zero is always the average.
Maybe I should cooperate with pollsters instead of saying “no thanks” and hanging up. I see I’m missing something.
I want to try this sometime: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hllDWSbuDsQ
It’s been a while since I’ve done any linkage, but this one definitely deserved one. Too Funny!