Figuratively Speaking

Rank of Bethlehem on the Lonely Planet's 1,000 Ultimate Experiences list of the best places in the world to experience the Yuletide spirit: 1

Ranks of Santa Claus Village, Finland; New York City; Bondi Beach, Australia; and Midnight Mass at the Vatican on the list: 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: The Lonely Planet.

Of the millions of Americans who intend to travel home for the holidays, percentage who will experience stress over having to stay with family or friends -- typically due to crowding (hello, basement air mattress) and lack of privacy (how many cousins can share one bathroom?) -- according to a survey from Motel 6: 67

Of those who travel with their significant others, percentage who agree that they would get along better as a pair if they didn't have to stay with relatives over the holidays: 51

Source: Motel 6.

Estimated number of Americans who have had packages stolen by "porch pirates," according to a survey by Insurance Quotes.com: 25.9 million

Number who have had decorations stolen or vandalized: 22.6 million

Source: InsuranceQuotes.com.

While holiday tunes accounted for just 1 percent of all streams in early November -- climbing to 5 percent by Thanksgiving weekend -- peak percentage stream on Christmas Day, according to research by Statista: 22

In 2017, ranks of Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You," Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and "Last Christmas" by Wham! on the list of the most popular streams: 1, 2, 3

Source: Statista.

Percentage of respondents to the Marriage Proposal survey by Chilisauce who chose Christmas Eve as the best time to pop the question: 31

Percentage of all proposals that are expected to happen around Christmas: 40

Source: Chillisauce Ltd.

Percentage of adults who say their at-home children believe in Santa Claus, according to a new Pew Research Center poll: 19

Percentage of children who plan to "pretend" that St. Nick will visit their house on Christmas Eve: 70

Percentage of parents who said that Santa "visited" their homes with presents years ago when they were kids: 72

Source: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

Number of children Santa must visit in a matter of hours according to the Ministry of Fun: 2.1 billion

Number of stops he must make (assuming the global average of 2.5 children per household applies): 842 million

Speed at which he must travel (this need for speed may explain why he's so tricky to spot sometimes): 1,280 miles per second

Source: Ministry of Fun.

Probable First Flight of Santa, according to NORAD, which confirmed it will track Santa's Christmas Eve flight and released a fact sheet with "technical data" on the sleigh, designed and built by K. Kringle and Elves Inc.: Dec. 24, 343 A.D.

Length of sleigh, equivalent to 150 lollipops: 75 candy canes

Width: 40 candy canes

Weight at takeoff: 75,000 gum drops

Passenger weight at takeoff: 260 pounds

Source: NORAD.

Percentage of Americans who say the thing they most look forward to during the holiday season is spending time with friends and family, according to The Harris Poll: 52

Percentage of Americans who say the one thing they dislike most about the holidays is spending too much money: 27

Source: The Harris Poll.

Percentage of Americans who plan to spend more on holiday travel than gifts, according to a survey by Orbitz Worldwide: 64

Busiest day for Christmas travel: Dec. 23

Source: Orbitz.

Idle Thought

"Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be." -- Abraham Lincoln

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

Ranks of crowds and long lines, aggressive or thoughtless driving in shopping centers, bad traffic, weight gain, fake holiday cheer and debt on the list of holiday dreads as cited by Americans, according to Consumer Reports: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Rank of "that fruitcake" on the list of the least-favorite holiday food gifts: 1

Source: Consumer Reports.

Estimated percentage of homes that still put up and decorate a real Christmas tree each year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 20

Estimated percentage of U.S. households that now use artificial trees to decorate for the holidays: 50

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of Americans who would skip exchanging gifts if their family and friends agreed to it, according to a survey conducted by Harris on behalf of SunTrust Bank: 69

Percentage who said they would spend more time with friends and family if they didn't have to worry about buying or making gifts: 60

Percentage of respondents who said they would use that money to pay down debt: 37

Source: The Harris Poll.

Year that Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the United States, placed a Christmas tree in the White House for the first time, according to data compiled by the University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners from various sources: 1856

Year that President Calvin Coolidge started the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on the White House lawn: 1923.

Year the National Christmas Tree was not lit until Dec. 22nd, because of a national 30-day period of mourning following the assassination of President Kennedy: 1963

Source: University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners.

Percentage of people who said the holiday party is very important to office morale and company success, according to a BizBash and Seamless survey: 73

Percentage of respondents who reported better office friendships as a result of past holiday parties: 75

Percentage who reported an improved office culture: 71

Source: BizBash.

Percentage of "dog people" who will buy their pup a gift this holiday season, according to a survey by BarkBox: 80

Percentage who say their dog is the happiest receiver on their list: 71

Source: BarkBox.

For girls, rank of Barbie on the list of must-have toys for the fourth consecutive year, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation: 1

For boys, rank of LEGOs on the list of must-haves: 1

Source: NRF.

Percentage of retailers who indicated their greatest focus for holiday marketing will be on millennials, compared to a focus on Gen X (34 percent) or baby boomers (6 percent), according to a survey by RetailMeNot.com: 57

Source: RetailMeNot.com.

When it comes to getting the best customer service, percentage of consumers who say a human is needed, according to a Genesys study: 75

Ranks of being put on hold (42 percent), being given incorrect information (37 percent) and being given too many automated options before reaching an agent or resolving their issue (36 percent) on the list of the biggest customer annoyances: 1, 2, 3

Ranks of a timely response (64 percent) and knowledgeable agents (55 percent) on the list for the type of customer experiences they value the most: 1, 2

Source: Genesys.

Percentage of parents who are overwhelmed when researching child safety products, according to a survey conducted by Harris on behalf of Volvo Car USA: 92

Percentage of parents who believe that people are more judgmental about the way they care for their children today, as opposed to 10 years ago: 84

Rank of the child safety seat on the list of concerns regarding child safety: 1

Source: The Harris Poll.

Idle Thought

"Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness." -- Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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

Percentage of Americans who believe in God, according to a Harris poll: 82

Percentage who said they believe in a heaven: 75

Percentage who said there is a devil: 60

Percentage who said there is a place called hell: 61

Source: The Harris Poll.

Amount consumers are expected to spend this holiday season, despite near-record credit card debt levels, according to WalletHub: $1.1 trillion

Number of people who will have holiday debt into February: 55 million

Source: WalletHub.

In 2018, percentage increase in the price index of the gifts in the holiday classic "The Twelve Days of Christmas," according to economic analysis by PNC Wealth Management: 1.2

According to this year's survey, current price tag for these gifts: $39,094.93

Cost to a very thoughtful true love to buy the whole shebang -- from a single partridge to 12 drummers drumming for each verse (that's 364 separate pieces of Christmas joy): $170,609

Cost of nine ladies dancing: $7,552.84

Cost of 10 lords a-leaping: $10,000

Source: PNC Wealth Management.

Number of real Christmas trees that were purchased in 2017, according to the National Christmas Tree Association: 27.4 million

Average price paid: $75

Source: National Christmas Tree Association.

Percentage of employers who plan to give gifts to workers, according to the Advertising Specialty Institute: 42

Percentage of companies who anticipate that they will provide gifts to prospective and existing clients: 37

Source: Advertising Specialty Institute.

Percentage of student loan borrowers who would rather receive a student loan payment instead of a gift this holiday season, according to a survey by Ameritech Financial: 70

Percentage of student loan borrowers who are planning to skip a payment to help cover their holiday spending: 40

Source: Ameritech Financial.

Date that Radio City Music Hall opened with a troupe known as the Roxyettes, according to Radio City Music Hall data: Dec. 27, 1932

Year they officially they became the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes: 1934

Since the Christmas Spectacular's opening night, number of women who have shared in the legacy by performing as a Rockette: 3,000 plus

Number of people who have seen the Christmas Spectacular since the New York holiday tradition officially began: 75 million plus

Source: Radio City Music Hall.

Amount of the recent Mega Millions record jackpot (won by a single ticket purchased in South Carolina), according to Ipsos research: $1.537 billion

Percentage of people who bought tickets for the jackpot who say they didn't start playing until the jackpot reached at least $1 billion: 30

Percentage of these who say they didn't buy until the jackpot reached its peak of $1.6B (the highest advertised amount): 50

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of women who are willing to shop around for deals and use coupons (compared to 53 percent of men), according to a survey by Bankrate.com: 62

Source: Bankrate Inc.

Percentage of the top retailers who said they've seen an increase in employee turnover since the beginning of 2018, according to a survey conducted by Korn Ferry: 29

Of all retail positions, rank of part-time hourly store employees on the list of workers with the highest turnover rate: 1

Percentage of respondents who say that in 2018 they gave wage hikes to existing employees to put their salaries on par with increased starting wages: 34

Source: Korn Ferry International.

Idle Thought

"Patience is also a form of action." -- Auguste Rodin, sculptor

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