Figuratively Speaking

Percentage of Americans who use social media who have posted or texted something that they regret afterward, according to a survey by YouGov: 57

Percentage who regret a post at least once a week: 17

Percentage who are afraid they may hurt relationships with family or partners by sharing misguided images or messages: 14

Source: YouGov.

Percentage of Americans who find things like research and handling travel logistics for a vacation stressful, according to a survey of Princess Cruises: 50

Percentage who say they return from vacation needing a vacation: 55

Source: Princess Cruises.

Amount the average holiday shopper plans to spend per gift this year, according to the annual holiday shopping survey by RetailMeNot: $141

Average number of people for whom they will buy gifts: 8

Source: RetailMeNot.com.

Percentage of Americans who say that they currently own stocks, defined here not as shares in mutual funds, but direct shares of companies, according to a survey of U.S. adults conducted on behalf of Fletcher Group LLC: 28

Among those who say that they do not currently own stocks, percentage who say that this is because they don't currently hold any investments: 39

Percentage who admit that they do not currently own stocks because they don't know how to go about buying them: 28

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of parents who are unaware that car crashes are the biggest threat to their teens' safety, according to a National Safety Council survey: 76

Percentage of parents who said they believe drugs and alcohol, bullying and the Internet are teens' most significant safety threats: 76

Percentage of parents who correctly pointed to lack of experience or poor decision-making as leading crash factors: 72

Source: National Safety Council.

Estimated number of people who are currently on the waiting list to receive a lifesaving organ transplant, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: 120,000

Number of lives that could be saved by one organ donor: 8

Number of people who are dying each day while waiting: 22

Source: The Harris Poll.

In 2015, percentage of Americans who reported that they or a household member had credit card information stolen by hackers (down from 27 percent in 2014), according to a Gallup Poll: 22

Percentage of victims of credit card theft who say they worry frequently about the crime: 53

Percentage of non-victims who worry frequently about credit card theft: 29

Source: Gallup.

Year that President Abraham Lincoln finally proclaimed the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving: 1863.

Ranks of Christmas and Thanksgiving on the list of America's favorite holidays: 1, 2

Approximate percentage of Americans who eat turkey on Thanksgiving Day, according to a National Turkey Federation survey: 88

Source: CNN Money.

Year that the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was certified, prohibiting discrimination based on gender with regard to voting -- extending the right to vote to women, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1920

Year that American women exercised their new right for the first time in a presidential election: 1920

In the 2012 presidential election, percentage of women who voted, compared with just under 60 percent for men: 63.7

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Expected percentage rise in health care benefit costs in 2016, according to a new survey by the National Business Group on Health: 6

Percentage of employers who have curbed cost increases by focusing on employee wellness: 70

Source: National Business Group on Health.

Idle Thought

"Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not." -- Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (1709-1784)

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Percentage of the U.S. workforce that is out on family or medical leave on any given day, according to a survey by ComPsych: 10

Average time off on FMLA: 14.2 days

Ranks of surgery, pregnancy and bonding with a new child as the top three reasons for family or medical leave: 1, 2, 3

Source: ComPsych Corp.

Percentage of Americans who think it is unacceptable for employers to fire people for doing something that is not illegal outside of work, according to a survey by YouGov: 54

Percentage of Americans who say they have been fired or otherwise lost their job at some point: 37

Percentage who said they deserved it: 27

Source: YouGov.

Of workers who currently have a minimum-wage job or have held one in the past, percentage who said they couldn't make ends meet, according to a survey by CareerBuilder: 65

Percentage who said they had to work more than one job to make ends meet: 49

Percentage of workers at all salary levels who were not able to make ends meet during the past year: 19

Percentage of all workers who say they're in debt: 65

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Year over year percentage increase in average holiday gift purchases by the wealthiest 10 percent of U.S. households, according to a survey by the American Affluence Research Center: 4

Estimated total gift purchases by these affluent households: $33 billion

Average holiday gift purchases estimated for each of the affluent households: $2,749

Average holiday gift purchases estimated for the average U.S. household: $687

Source: American Affluence Research Center.

Percentage of Americans who said "they were more scared of outliving their assets than they were of dying": 61

Percentage of people between the ages of 44 and 49 who said the same: 77

Percentage of those in their late 40s who had dependents who said the same: 82

Source: Convergex.

Ranks of Stephen King, James Patterson, J.K. Rowling and John Grisham on the list of America's favorite authors, according to a Harris poll: 1, 2, 3, 4

When asked which types of books (from a provided list) they've read over the last year, percentage of Americans who indicate that they've been filling their book bags with mystery, thriller and crime novels: 47

Percentage who have been flipping through history books: 33

Percentage who have been reading biographies/memoirs: 31

Percentage who enjoyed romance novels: 27

Source: The Harris Poll.

Percentage of non-IT professionals who say the technology field holds appeal for them, according to a Robert Half Technology survey: 75

Percentage who say what attracts them is the salary potential and job opportunities: 38

Percentage who said the appealing culture: 13

Source: Robert Half Technology.

Percentage of millennials (those born in the early 1980s to the early 2000s) who say they are "concerned" about their delay in saving and investing for retirement: 40

Percentage of millennials who have delayed the purchase of a home: 29

Percentage who have postponed a major purchase, such as an automobile: 26

Percentage who have had to return home to live with their parents: 19

Source: Investor Protection Institute.

Percentage of organizations that are in the process of transitioning their business-to-business payments from paper checks to electronic payments, according to research by the Association for Financial Professionals: 80

Percentage of organizations that would replace paper checks with electronic payments if there was a cost benefit of doing so: 66

Source: Association for Financial Professionals.

Idle Thought

"Be not too hasty to trust or admire the teachers of morality; they discourse like angels but they live like men." -- Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (1709-1784)

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.)

On average, amount that Americans had to hand over in 2013 to cover their annual housing costs -- nearly $350 more than they spent in 2011 -- according to research by Credit Donkey: $17,148

Estimated percentage of American households that spend more than 30 percent of their income to keep a roof over their heads: 41

Percentage of renters who spend more than half their pay on rent: 25

Source: CreditDonkey.com.

Percentage of Americans aged 20 to 37 who said they are saving for retirement, according to the Insured Retirement Institute and the Center for Generational Kinetics: 68

Percentage of millennials who say they are preparing for retirement by reducing debt: 77

Percentage who are banking on winning the lottery: 15

Percentage who hope to receive gifted money to fund their retirement years: 11

Source: Insured Retirement Institute,

Average amount consumers celebrating Halloween plan to spend on costumes for the whole family, according to a National Retail Federation study: $27.33

Total amount that those celebrating will spend on costumes: $2.5 billion

Amount that will be spent on adult costumes: $1.2 billion

Amount that will be spent on children's costumes: $950 million

Source: National Retail Federation.

Percentage of the current workforce who say they would be successful making less than $50,000 a year, according to a survey by Careerbuilder: 25

Percentage of current high schoolers who say they need to make more than $70,000 a year to be successful: 63

Percentage of the current workforce who say the same thing: 47

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of parents who enjoy their children's Halloween bounty by either sneaking it when the kids aren't looking (23 percent) or by instituting a house rule that it must be shared (57 percent), according to the results of the National Confectioners Association's national survey: 80

Source: National Confectioners Association.

Ranks of "the texter," "the tailgater," "the left lane hog," "the crawler" and "the multitasker" on the list of driving behaviors that generate the most fury and earn the scorn of Americans, according to the Expedia 2015 Road Rage Report: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Ranks of "back-seat driving," "reluctant co-pilot," "radio hog" and "snoozer" on the list of the least-popular in-car behaviors: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Expedia.

Percentage of women who have a child younger than 18 who would ideally like to stay home and care for their house and family, according to a Gallup Poll: 56

Percentage of women without young children who would rather work outside the home: 58

Percentage of men who prefer to work regardless of parenting status: 75

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of adult men and women who have experienced chafing and irritation on their skin, according to a survey commissioned by Anti Monkey Butt: 60

Among those who have experienced this discomfort, percentage who say this occurs most in their nether regions, including the buttocks, inner thighs and scrotum: 68

Source: Clarion Brands.

Although it's been 45 years since Herbie hit big screens in "The Love Bug," number of motorists who have been proposed to behind the wheel, according to research from Allianz: 1.9 million

On the nation's highways, number of motorists who have had the brakes put on their relationships and been dumped while in the car: 2.3 million

Source: Allianz Life Insurance.

Percentage of Americans who see teaching as a prestigious occupation, according to a Harris poll: 60

Percentage who also believe that teachers in the United States are paid too little: 60

Percentage who think that too little money is spent nationally on public schools: 61

Source: The Harris Poll.

Idle Thought

"It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them." -- Agatha Christie, author

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.)