This is a reprint of a Choose Ye that I did two years ago. I was supposed to compile the results, and then I… well, I didn’t. Then I did it again last year, out of curiosity about the answers. And I’m still curious to see what my changing, evolving readership chooses, so…
So let’s do it again!
Reprint begins here:
Okay. We’re playing hardball now, kids.
Unless you’re ready to be covered in strawberries and whipped cream, no waffling!
(And no, I’m not actually going to cover you in strawberries and whipped cream. Give your head a shake.)
The choices we make sometimes say a lot about who we are. Sometimes they say nothing about who we are. But it’s funny — even the most silly choices can end up getting us into huge debates with our family and friends.
(Actually, I think it’s interesting to note the choices we struggle with… or the ones we don’t care about at all. And the choices we admit to, as opposed to the ones we hide. And the choices in others that meet with our disdain.)
But today I don’t want to hear about definitions or shades of gray or your existential struggle or “I need to know context!†or qualifiers or “well, generally I think I like this, but it depends…â€
Just choose. No extra (especially political or religious) commentary, no justifications, no bashing other choices. Choose what your ideal would be.
NO EXCUSES.
Scary, I know.
(And one more parenthetical remark for good measure. Thank you.)
***
Coffee or tea?
PC or Mac?
Kids or no?
Marriage: necessary or no? Desirable or no?
Pets or no?
Political or no?
Summer or winter or fall or spring?
Artificial sweeteners or sugar?
Book or e-reader?
Fries or salad?
Eat in or eat out?
Lake or ocean?
Own or rent?
Drive or take transit/walk?
Email or phone?
Text or no?
Traditional medical care or natural remedies?
Vegetarian (or vegan) or carnivore?
Apples or oranges?
Follow celeb culture or no?
Liberal or conservative?
Rural or urban?
Car or SUV?
Atheist or not (not includes agnostics and any faith position)?
Cable or not?
Campsite or hotel?
Alcohol or no?
Up early or up late (if given the choice)?
News online or news on TV?
Coffee or tea?
tea
PC or Mac?
PC
Kids or no?
Kids
Marriage: necessary or no? Desirable or no?
Not necessary but deserable
Pets or no?
Pets
Political or no?
Political
Summer or winter or fall or spring?
Fall
Artificial sweeteners or sugar?
Sugar
Fries or salad?
Salad
Eat in or eat out?
In
Lake or ocean?
Lake
Own or rent?
Own
Drive or take transit/walk?
Drive
Email or phone?
Email
Text or no?
Text
Traditional medical care or natural remedies?
Traditional
Vegetarian (or vegan) or carnivore?
Omnivore
Apples or oranges?
Apples
Follow celeb culture or no?
No
Liberal or conservative?
Conservative
Rural or urban?
Urban
Car or SUV?
Car
Atheist or not (not includes agnostics and any faith position)?
Not
Cable or not?
Not
Campsite or hotel?
Capsite
Alcohol or no?
Alcohol
Up early or up late (if given the choice)?
Early
News online or news on TV?
Online
Tea. Mac. Kids. Not necessary, but desirable. Pets (but not right now). No. Fall. SUGAR. Salad (see Sugar). Out. Ocean. Own. Walk. Email (but used to be phone). Text (but not often). Traditional (but often traditional EASTERN). Carnivore. Apples (Macouns, please). Follow. Liberal. Urban. Car. Not. Cable. Campsite (but it’s been ages). Cheers! Early. TV.
Tea
Mac
Kids
Marriage: desirable, yes, but not necessary
Pets
Political
fall
sugar
Book
Salad
eat out
ocean
Own
walk
Email
Text
natural remedies
carnivore
Apples
No celeb culture
liberal – note the small l
rural
Car
Not atheist
No cable
Campsite
Alcohol
Up early
News online
I’m pretty sure I’ve answered this before. Maybe twice.
Coffee
Mac
Kids
Not necessary, but desirable
Pets
Political
Fall
Sugar
Book
Fries
Eat in
Ocean
Rent
Take transit/walk (but I LOVE driving :)
Email
Text
Traditional medical care
Carnivore
Apples
No
Liberal
Urban
Car
Not
Cable
Hotel
Alcohol
Up late
News online
I don’t drink either, so I can’t choose. PC. Kids. Marriage: not necessary, desirable. Pets. Not political. Spring. Sugar. Books. Salad. Out. Lake. Walk. Email. Texting if you must. Traditional medcare. OMNIVORE. Oranges. Sort of (waffle!) Liberal. Urban. Car. Not. Cable. No alcohol. Up late. HOTEL. News online.
Tea
PC
Kids
Unnecessary but desirable
Pets
Political
Fall
Sugar
Book
Fries
Eat out
Lake
Rent
Drive
Email
Text
Traditional medical care
vegetarian
Apples
Follow celeb culture
Liberal
Urban (why isn’t suburban an option?)
SUV
Not atheist
Cable
Hotel
Alcohol
Up late
News online
Coffee
I’m a PC and I’m 31
Kids
Pets
Political
Fall
Sugar
Book
Fries
Eat out
Lake
Own
Walk
Phone
Text
Traditional medical
Carnivore
Apples
Do not follow Celebrities
Liberal
Urban
SUV
Not Atheist
Cable
Hotel
Alcohol
Up early
News online
Bravo to your critique of list in “36 at 36″ because I also like list but only when fun and/or useful as here, but not when they create anxiety or are trying and failing to be too cute as when they sound like the lists in, say, a People magazine.
Coffee
Mac
Kids
Marriage: not necessary; desirable
No pets at the moment
Not political
spring
sugar
Book
salad
eat out
ocean
Own
take transit/walk
Email
Text
Traditional medical care
carnivore
Apples
no celeb culture
Liberal
urban
Car
not atheist
Cable
hotel
Alcohol
Up early
news on TV
Coffee. PC. No. No. Desirable. Pets. No. Summer. Sugar. Book. Fries. Out. Ocean. Own. Drive. Email. No. Natural remedies. Carnivore. Apples. No. Liberal. Urban. Car. Not. Cable. Hotel. Alcohol. Up late. News online.
Coffee, always and ever emphatically
Mac
No kids currently – someday
Marriage: desirable, but not necessary
No pets
Political
Fall (though since I became a teacher, summer has very much grown on me)
Sugar!
Book
Fries
Eat out – they cook *for* you and do the dishes!
Ocean
Rent
Take transit/walk
Email
Text
Traditional medical care
Carnivore
Apples (with peanut butter!)
Not so much with the following celeb culture
Liberal
Urban
Car
Not atheist (though firmly agnostic, if such a thing can be)
Cable
Hotel
Alcohol
Up late
News online
Tea
Mac
No
No and no
No
No
Fall
Sugar
E-reader (Have you seen the retina display?)
Fries
Eat out
Ocean
Rent
Transit/walk
Email
Text
Traditional medical care
Carnivore
Oranges
No
Conservative
Urban
Car
Not atheist
Not
Hotel
No
Up late
News online
I will make a second attempt to get this list right:
Tea
Mac
Kids
Marriage: necessary and desirable
Pets
Political
The Four Seasons
Sugar
Book
Fries
Eat in
Ocean
Own
Drive
Email
Text
Traditional medical care
Carnivore
Oranges
NO
Conservative
Urban
SUV
Not
Cable
Hotel
No
Up late
News online
Coffee or tea? TEA
PC or Mac? PC
Kids or no? SOMEONE ELSE’S
Marriage: necessary or no? Desirable or no? NO. DESIRABLE
Pets or no? YES
Political or no? NO
Summer or winter or fall or spring? SUMMER FALL
Artificial sweeteners or sugar? SUGAR
Book or e-reader? BOOK
Fries or salad? FRIES
Eat in or eat out? EAT IN
Lake or ocean? OCEAN
Own or rent? RENT
Drive or take transit/walk? DRIVE
Email or phone? NEITHER
Text or no? TEXT
Traditional medical care or natural remedies? TRADITIONAL
Vegetarian (or vegan) or carnivore? CARNIVORE
Apples or oranges? ORANGES
Follow celeb culture or no? WHILST IN THE CHECKOUT LINE
Liberal or conservative? BALANCED
Rural or urban? URBAN
Car or SUV? SUV
Atheist or not? NOT
Cable or not? CABLE
Campsite or hotel? HOTEL
Alcohol or no? BEER
Up early or up late? UP EARLY
News online or news on TV? NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS
This is a reprint of a Choose Ye that I did two years ago. I was supposed to compile the results, and then I… well, I didn’t. Then I did it again last year, out of curiosity about the answers. And I’m still curious to see what my changing, evolving readership chooses, so…
So let’s do it again!
Reprint begins here:
Okay. We’re playing hardball now, kids.
Unless you’re ready to be covered in strawberries and whipped cream, no waffling!
(And no, I’m not actually going to cover you in strawberries and whipped cream. Give your head a shake.)
The choices we make sometimes say a lot about who we are. Sometimes they say nothing about who we are. But it’s funny — even the most silly choices can end up getting us into huge debates with our family and friends.
(Actually, I think it’s interesting to note the choices we struggle with… or the ones we don’t care about at all. And the choices we admit to, as opposed to the ones we hide. And the choices in others that meet with our disdain.)
But today I don’t want to hear about definitions or shades of gray or your existential struggle or “I need to know context!†or qualifiers or “well, generally I think I like this, but it depends…â€
Just choose. No extra (especially political or religious) commentary, no justifications, no bashing other choices. Choose what your ideal would be.
NO EXCUSES.
Scary, I know.
(And one more parenthetical remark for good measure. Thank you.)
Coffee or tea?
Coffee
PC or Mac?
Mac
Kids or no?
Kids
Marriage: necessary or no? Desirable or no?
Yes, desireable but not necessary
Pets or no?
No
Political or no?
No
Summer or winter or fall or spring?
Fall
Artificial sweeteners or sugar?
Sugar
Book or e-reader?
Book
Fries or salad?
Salad
Eat in or eat out?
Eat out
Lake or ocean?
Ocean
Own or rent?
Rent
Drive or take transit/walk?
Transit or walk
Email or phone?
Phone
Text or no?
Text
Traditional medical care or natural remedies?
Traditional care
Vegetarian (or vegan) or carnivore?
Carnivore
Apples or oranges?
Apples
Follow celeb culture or no?
No
Liberal or conservative?
Liberal
Rural or urban?
Urban
Car or SUV?
Car
Atheist or not (not includes agnostics and any faith position)?
Not
Cable or not?
Cable
Campsite or hotel?
Hotel
Alcohol or no?
Yes
Up early or up late (if given the choice)?
Up late
News online or news on TV?
News online
Coffee or tea? COFFEE
PC or Mac? PC
Kids or no? KIDS
Marriage: necessary or no? Desirable or no? NECESSARY – NO
DESIRABLE – YES
Pets or no? PETS
Political or no? POLITICAL
Summer or winter or fall or spring? FALL
Artificial sweeteners or sugar? ATIFICIAL
Book or e-reader? BOOK
Fries or salad? SALAD
Eat in or eat out? EAT IN
Lake or ocean? LAKE
Own or rent? RENT
Drive or take transit/walk? TRANSIT
Email or phone? EMAIL
Text or no? TEXT
Traditional medical care or natural remedies? TRADITIONAL
Vegetarian (or vegan) or carnivore? CARNIVORE
Apples or oranges? ORANGES
Follow celeb culture or no? FOLLOW
Liberal or conservative? LIBERAL
Rural or urban? URBAN
Car or SUV? CAR
Atheist or not (not includes agnostics and any faith position)? NOT
Cable or not? CABLE
Campsite or hotel? HOTEL
Alcohol or no? ALCOHOL
Up early or up late (if given the choice)? UP EARLY
News online or news on TV? ONLINE
Been awhile since I’ve done one of these…
Coffee
PC
Kids
Marriage: not necessary Desirable? Yes
Pets
Political
Fall
Sugar
Book
Salad
Eat-in
Lake
Own
Walk
Email
No text
Natural remedies
Vegetarian
Apples
No celebs
Liberal
Rural
SUV
Not
Cable
Campsite
Alcohol
Early
Online
I still commented and applies my shades of grey — I just used my inside voice (TYVM)
k
Coffee
PC
Kids
Marriage: Desirable but unnecessary
Pets
Not political
Fall
Sugar
Book
Fries
Eat in
Ocean
Own
Drive
Email
Text
Natural remedies
Vegetarian
Apples
Follow celeb culture
Liberal
Urban
Car
Not atheist
Cable
Hotel
Alcohol
Up late
News online
Coffee or tea?
Coffee
PC or Mac?
Mac
Kids or no?
No
Marriage: necessary or no? Desirable or no?
No, Yes
Pets or no?
Pets
Political or no?
Political
Summer or winter or fall or spring?
Fall
Artificial sweeteners or sugar?
Artificial
Book or e-reader?
e-reader
Fries or salad?
salad
Eat in or eat out?
Eat in
Lake or ocean?
Ocean
Own or rent?
Own
Drive or take transit/walk?
Drive
Email or phone?
Email
Text or no?
No
Traditional medical care or natural remedies?
Traditional
Vegetarian (or vegan) or carnivore?
carnivore actually omnivore though
Apples or oranges?
Apples
Follow celeb culture or no?
No
Liberal or conservative?
Liberal
Rural or urban?
Urban
Car or SUV?
SUV
Atheist or not (not includes agnostics and any faith position)?
Atheist
Cable or not?
Cable
Campsite or hotel?
Hotel
Alcohol or no?
Alcohol
Up early or up late (if given the choice)?
Up late
News online or news on TV?
Online
Yea! Love Choose, ye!
tea
PC
no
Marriage: no no
Pets
no
winter
sugar
Book
Fries
eat out
ocean
rent
take transit/walk
Email
Text
Traditional medical care
carnivore
oranges
Follow celeb culture
Liberal
urban
Car
Atheist
Cable
hotel
Alcohol
up late
News online
Coffee
PC
Kids
Marriage: necessary, Desirable
no
Political
fall
sugar
Book
Fries
Eat out
Lake
Own
walk
Email
no Text
Traditional medical care
omnivore (carnivore)
Apples
No celeb
conservative
urban
Car
not Atheism
Cable
Campsite
no Alcohol
up late
News on TV
Better late than never!
Tea?
Mac
no kids
not necessary but desirable
Pets
Political
Summer
Sugar
Book
Salad
Eat in
Ocean
Own
Take transit/walk
Email
Text
Traditional medical care
Carnivore
Oranges
not following celeb culture
Liberal
Urban
Car
Atheist
no cable
Hotel
Alcohol
Up early
News online
Why not?
Coffee. Mac. No kids, but not by choice. Get married if you want; it’s nice. Pets, especially “recession dog”. I was political once, but now it just hurts my heart too much. Fall. Splenda. Book, till I get devices. Salad. Can’t afford restaurants. Lake, especially the lake I live a block away from. Rent. Drive, although we’re down to one car. Email. I’ve never texted, though I’ve tweeted. Science-based medical care. Omnivore. I don’t eat fruit. I don’t follow celeb culture. Libertarian (I wrote in Ron Paul). Exurban. Car. Happily atheist. The internet is my TV. We used to go camping once a year; the mrs. can’t any more. Beer or wine, though scotch lately tastes good. Early riser, no matter what time I went to bed. Too much TV news, too little online news.
Coffee or tea?
Coffee
PC or Mac?
Mac
Kids or no?
No
Marriage: necessary or no? Desirable or no?
No
Pets or no?
Pets
Political or no?
Political
Summer or winter or fall or spring?
Fall
Artificial sweeteners or sugar?
Sugar
Book or e-reader?
Book
Fries or salad?
Salad
Eat in or eat out?
In
Lake or ocean?
Ocean
Own or rent?
Own
Drive or take transit/walk?
Drive
Email or phone?
Phone
Text or no?
No
Traditional medical care or natural remedies?
Traditional
Vegetarian (or vegan) or carnivore?
Carnivore
Apples or oranges?
Oranges
Follow celeb culture or no?
Follow
Liberal or conservative?
Liberal
Rural or urban?
Rural
Car or SUV?
Car
Atheist or not (not includes agnostics and any faith position)?
Not
Cable or not?
Cable
Campsite or hotel?
Campsite
Alcohol or no?
Alcohol
Up early or up late (if given the choice)?
Up early
News online or news on TV?
TV
Coffee or tea? Tea, as long as it’s sweet tea
PC or Mac? Mac!
Kids or no? Yes, two beautiful ones!
Marriage: necessary or no? Desirable or no? Necessary, no. desirable, yes.
Pets or no? yes, love animals
Political or no? noooooo
Summer or winter or fall or spring? summer
Artificial sweeteners or sugar? sugar
Book or e-reader? book
Fries or salad? salad
Eat in or eat out? out
Lake or ocean? if i can scuba dive in it it’s all good
Own or rent? rent for now
Drive or take transit/walk? drive
Email or phone? email
Text or no? everyday
Traditional medical care or natural remedies? traditional if it’s bad news, otherwise just tough it out
Vegetarian (or vegan) or carnivore? carnivore!
Apples or oranges? oranges
Follow celeb culture or no? unfortunately.
Liberal or conservative? conservative
Rural or urban? rural
Car or SUV? SUV (truck really but that wasn’t a choice)
Atheist or not (not includes agnostics and any faith position)? not
Cable or not? yes
Campsite or hotel? campsite
Alcohol or no? no
Up early or up late (if given the choice)? LATE
News online or news on TV? online
Neither (water)
PC
Kids
Marriage: Not necessary but loving it!
Pets
Politics suck
Winter (we live in igloos don’t we?)
Sugar
Books
Fries
Eat Out
Lake
Rent
Walk
Phone
Text
Natural Remedies
Carnivore, meat please!
no apples or oranges: bananas
Celeb gossip
not conservative or liberal (go green!)
Rural
Mini Van
Love God
Cable of course
Campsite
More drinks the merrier
Up late (if given the choice)
News online
This goes against every fiber of my Gemini being, but my ideals are:
Coffee or tea? TEA
PC or Mac? PC
Kids or no? ONE
Marriage: necessary or no? Desirable or no? NO, but DESIRABLE
Pets or no? YES
Political or no? NO
Summer or winter or fall or spring? FALL
Artificial sweeteners or sugar? SUGAR
Book or e-reader? BOOK
Fries or salad? FRIES
Eat in or eat out? EAT OUT
Lake or ocean? OCEAN
Own or rent? OWN
Drive or take transit/walk? DRIVE
Email or phone? EMAIL
Text or no? TEXT
Traditional medical care or natural remedies? TRADITIONAL
Vegetarian (or vegan) or carnivore? CARNIVORE
Apples or oranges? APPLES
Follow celeb culture or no? YES
Liberal or conservative? BOTH
Rural or urban? RURAL
Car or SUV? Pickup Truck :)
Atheist or not? NOT
Cable or not? CABLE
Campsite or hotel? HOTEL
Alcohol or no? YES, please
Up early or up late? UP LATE
News online or news on TV? TV
I’ll have one of each, please.
Neither
Mac
No
No
No
Political
Summer
Sugar
Book
Salad
Eat Out
Ocean
Rent
Drive
Email
Text
Traditional medical care
Carnivore
Apples
Nope
Liberal
Urban
SUV
Jewish
No cable
Hotel
Alcohol
Late
News online
Coffee
PC
No kids
Marriage: Not necessary or desireable (at least right now)
No pets
Political
Summer
Sugar
Book
Fries
Eat in
Ocean
I am a homeowner!!!!!!
Drive
Email
Text
Traditional health care
Meat-atarian
Apples
Celebs = drivel mostly
Liberal
Urban (for now)
SUV (built on a car chassis
Not athiest
Cable
Campsite
Alcohol
Up late
Both
Coffee
Mac
Kids
Marriage: no Desirable
no
no
spring
sugar
e-reader
Fries
eat out
Lake
Own
walk
Email
Text
Traditional medical care
carnivore
oranges
no
Liberal
urban
Car
Atheist
Cable
hotel
Alcohol
up late
New Online
Coffee or tea? Tea
PC or Mac? Mac
Kids or no? Kids
Marriage: necessary or no? Desirable or no? I’d like to one day.
Pets or no? Yep.
Political or no? Yep
Summer or winter or fall or spring? Summer
Artificial sweeteners or sugar? Sugar
Book or e-reader? Book
Fries or salad? Fries
Eat in or eat out? Eat in
Lake or ocean? Lake
Own or rent? Own
Drive or take transit/walk? Transit if it didn’t suck here. So Drive
Email or phone? Phone
Text or no? Text
Traditional medical care or natural remedies? Eh. Depends on the urgency but natural.
Vegetarian (or vegan) or carnivore? Carnivore, unless we a choosing which animal to come across in the middle of the night.
Apples or oranges? Apples
Follow celeb culture or no? No.
Liberal or conservative? Liberal
Rural or urban? Urban
Car or SUV? SUV for ventureing, Car for driving.
Atheist or not (not includes agnostics and any faith position)? Atheist
Cable or not? Cable
Campsite or hotel? Campsite
Alcohol or no? No
Up early or up late (if given the choice)? Late
News online or news on TV? online