Figuratively Speaking

Percentage of singles who say a great first date choice is a nice restaurant, according to a survey by Match.com: 59

Percentage who believe fast food is OK for that first date: 22

On a great first date, percentage of women who prefer that men insist on paying the bill: 91

Source: Match.com.

Number of Americans who say they have paid for a group bill (with the understanding they would be reimbursed) to earn points, miles or cash-back rewards on their credit cards, according to a study from CreditCards.com: 47 million

Percentage of people who picked up the tab for others who said they were not paid back at least one time: 44

Source: CreditCards.com.

Number of scenic byways in California, the most of any state, according to research by WalletHub: 66

The daily price for camping in Wyoming, the lowest of any state (2.1 times lower than in Connecticut, the state with the highest at $68): $32

Lowest price for a three-star hotel room in Arizona, the lowest of any state (3.4 times lower than in Hawaii, the state with the highest low price at $218): $64

Source: WalletHub.

Percentage of professionals who said passion is the No. 1 attribute they look for when hiring an intern, according to a survey by Korn-Ferry: 65

Ranks of an intern's performance (21 percent), school they attended (7 percent), grades (4 percent) and pedigree (3 percent) on the list of attributes they also look for: 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: Korn-Ferry International.

When asked to rate several concepts, people and professions on a scale of 1 to 7 (with 1 being worst about America and 7 being the best), rating of nurses as those who represent the best of America, according to an Ipsos survey: 6

Percentage of Americans who feel proud to be Americans: 72

Percentage who feel proud of America right now: 42

Percentage of Americans who feel fatigued watching the news: 70

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Number of people who died of gunshot wounds in 2016 -- nearly a 7 percent increase from 2015, according to the National Safety Council: 38,658

Percentage of these deaths that were accounted for by suicide: 59

Percentage that were homicides: 37

Percentage that were accidental: 1

Source: National Safety Council.

Average weekly allowance for kids (ages 4 to 11) this summer, according to RoosterMoney, the allowance-tracking app: $8.43

Percentage of their allowance that kids save: 37

Ranks of mowing the lawn ($8.06), washing the car ($5.05), gardening ($2.91), cleaning windows ($2.84) and mopping the floor ($2.17) on the list of the top 10 most lucrative chores (average per chore): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Ranks of tablets, Legos, cellphones, Nintendo Switch and Xbox on the list of the things kids save for: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: RoosterMoney.

Percentage of Americans who plan on going on vacation this summer, with a median estimated cost of $1,000, according to a Bankrate.com report: 51

Percentage who think they'll spend in excess of $2,000: 24

Source: Bankrate.com.

Amount that Spyscape, the "edutainment" company focused on the world of secret intelligence, paid for James Bond's storied Aston Martin DB5: $2.6 million

Year the film "GoldenEye" was released, when this car, driven by Pierce Brosnan, was the star of a three-minute-long race in the hills above Monaco: 1995

Source: Skyscape.

Of the estimated 40 to 42 million prostitutes in the world, number that are thought to be men, according to Foundation Scelles, as reported in Le Figaro: 8 to 8.42 million

In a report published by the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, percentage of the 100,000 children trafficked for sex who are boys: 50

Source: ProCon.org.

Idle Thought

"I shall live badly if I do not write, and I shall write badly if I do not live." -- Francoise Sagan, playwright and novelist (1935-2004)

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

Percentage of Americans who prefer to keep to themselves during a flight, according to an Expedia survey: 90

Percentage who would rather sleep than talk to other passengers: 69

Percentage of people who agree it's OK to wake snoring passengers: 54

Source: Expedia.

Ranks of being intelligent and being responsible on the list of traits Americans find favorable, according to an Ipsos survey: 1 (tie)

Ranks of taking care of others, being creative or innovative, being self-reliant, being independent, avoiding debt, and caring for the well-being of future generations on the list: 3 (tie), 5 , 6 (tie), 8

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Ranks of a more positive mood, having more energy, being more motivated and feeling less stressed on the list of the positive effects of taking vacation time, according to results of a survey of working adults conducted by the American Psychological Association: 1, 2, 3 (tie)

Percentage of working adults who reported that they were more productive following time off: 58

Percentage who said their work quality was better: 55

Source: American Psychological Association.

As summer kicks into high gear, percentage of professionals with children who say stress at home may trump stress at work -- that their kids are harder to manage than their employees, according to a Korn Ferry survey: 68

Percentage of professionals with kids at home who say they or their spouse alter their work hours to care for children: 46

Source: Korn/Ferry International.

Ranks of emotional strength, interest in sports, willingness to throw a punch if provoked, ability to join in when other men are talking about women in a sexual way and to have had many sexual partners on the list of pressures men say they face, according to a Pew Research survey: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: PEW Internet and American Life Project.

Ranks of the weather, money, delays, theft and illness on the list of vacation travelers' worries this year, according to a survey by WalletHub: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Percentage of people who think travel is worth getting into debt for: 35

Source: WalletHub.

Percentage of Americans who don't know how much money they'll need to save for retirement, according to a study from Bankrate.com: 61

Median amount among respondents who do have an estimate: $650,000

Number of Americans who say they never plan to retire, including 9 percent of both millennials (ages 18 to 37) and baby boomers (ages 54 to 72): 19 million

Source: Bankrate.com.

While nearly seven in 10 Americans (68 percent) said they feel happy about their financial situation at least sometimes, percentage who consistently experience a range of negative emotions such as anxiety: 54

Percentage who feel it all the time: 25

Percentage who feel insecure (25 percent all the time): 52

Source: Northwestern Mutual.

In 2017, number of acres of trees lost in the world's tropical forests, the second worst year in history (behind only 2016): 39 million

Source: Global Forest Watch Report, June 2018.

Percentage of Americans who say they went to vacation bible school growing up, according to a survey by LifeWay Research: 60

Percentage of American parents who say they plan to send kids to VBS this summer -- even if they skip church themselves: 64

Source: LifeWay Research.

Idle Thought

"While money can't buy happiness, it certainly lets you choose your own form of misery." -- Groucho Marx

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

Percentage of those who receive paid vacation time who believe they'll use all the allotted time this year, according to a Bankrate.com report: 36

Percentage who think they'll use a quarter of their days or less, including 13 percent who receive paid vacation time but don't think they'll use any of it: 26

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of American homeowners who say they feel when their home is organized that their life is organized, according to a new MasterBrand Cabinets home organization survey conducted by Wakefield Research: 95

Percentage who report they can't relax if their kitchen is a mess: 81

Percentage of respondents who report that they enjoy cooking or preparing meals more in a put-together space: 64

Source: MasterBrand Cabinets Inc.

Forecasted demand for U.S. bottled water in 2022, according to Bottled Water: United States, a report recently released by Freedonia Focus Reports: 16.9 billion gallons

Source: The Freedonia Group.

Percentage of businesses that hired workers in the past year specifically for their technical skills, according to a survey conducted by Clutch: 45

Percentage of businesses that have laid off employees due to new technology: 10

Percentage that have outsourced work: 18

Source: Clutch.

Percentage of working adults who say the positive effects of vacation time -- such as more energy and feeling less stress -- disappear immediately upon returning to work, according to a survey by the American Psychological Association: 24

Percentage who said the benefits last only a few days: 40

Source: American Psychological Association.

Percentage of professionals from varying industries who said they'd leave a job if it wasn't a good fit, even if they didn't have another position lined up, according to a Korn-Ferry survey: 26

Percentage of professionals who said that if they personally accepted a job that they ended up not liking, even though it paid well, they would leave as soon as they found a new job: 82

Percentage who said challenging and rewarding work is what keeps them on the job: 70

Source: Korn-Ferry International.

Projected date of Earth Overshoot Day -- defined as the day when humanity's annual demand on nature exceeds what Earth's ecosystems can regenerate in that year -- the earliest date since the world first went into overshoot in the early 1970s, according to the Global Footprint Network: Aug. 1, 2018

In other words, number of times faster that humanity is currently using nature than ecosystems can regenerate: 1.7

Source: Global Footprint Network.

While 85 percent of Americans say they know how to eat right, percentage who flunked a basic quiz on dietary facts and weight loss, according to the MDVIP Fat IQ Survey, conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs: 56

Percentage of American adults who are currently over their ideal weight: 82

When it comes to shedding excess pounds, percentage of Americans who say that hearing from a doctor that they need to lose weight would motivate them: 83

Yet, percentage of Americans who say they've actually asked their primary care doctor for weight-loss help or advice: 20

Source: MDVIP Media Relations.

Percentage of credit card users (about 43 million Americans) who have wrongly carried a balance to help improve their credit scores, according to CreditCards.com report: 22

Percentage who confess to paying a credit card bill late, including 24 percent who have done so more than once: 42

Percentage who say they've done so because didn't have enough money to pay on time: 35

Source: CreditCards.com.

Percentage of executives at middle market companies who say the health of their company is strong, according to the findings of a survey conducted for Citigroup Inc.: 84

Percentage who believe their company is better off today than a year ago: 70

Percentage who believe their company has experienced increases in sales: 77

Source: Citigroup.

Idle Thought

"If all men knew what others say of them, there would not be four friends in the world." -- Blaise Pascal, philosopher and mathematician (1623-1662)

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