Estimated percentage of all Americans who have worked in the restaurant industry at some point in their lives, according to research from the National Restaurant Association: 50

Percentage of adults who had their first job experience in a restaurant: 25

Percentage of restaurant managers who got their start as front-line employees: 80

Source: National Restaurant Association.

Percentage of Americans who date who say they used Facebook to snoop around a date's information and check out photos, according to Zagat's Dating and Dumping survey: 41

Ranks of through family and friends, online, random encounters, through hobbies and activities, and through work on the list of the best ways to meet someone: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: Zagat.

Percentage of Americans who love their job who say it is because of the work that they do, according to an Ipsos Public Affairs-Randstad survey: 66

Percentage who say their co-workers are the reason they love their job: 11

Percentage who cite their employer as the reason: 10

Percentage who say the pay or salary: 9

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of Americans who were concerned about whether the government was watching them online, according to a survey by YouGov: 35

Percentage who were wary about the data that social networks collect: 15

Source: Opera Software.

In 2010, percentage growth in the number of U.S. households with a net worth of $1 million or more, not including a primary residence, according to Affluent Market Insights 2011, a report released by Spectrem Group: 8

Number of households this represents: 600,000

Total U.S. millionaire population today: 8.4 million

Percentage growth in the number of households with a net worth of $500,000 or more, not including a primary residence: 6

Total number of these households today, up from 12.7 million in 2009: 13.5 million

Source: Spectrem Group.

Percentage of mature workers who said the primary drivers for postponing retirement are financial restraints, according to a survey from CareerBuilder: 65

Percentage who said they need the health insurance and other benefits: 58

Percentage of respondents who said they stay because they enjoy their job: 39

Percentage who enjoy where they work: 36

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Year that the nation's first woman doctor, Elizabeth Blackwell, received her M.D. -- as the result of a joke, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1849

Finding it hard to get a job at established hospitals and clinics, year that she opened her own dispensary, which later grew to become the New York Infirmary for Women and Children: 1854

Year that she established a Women's Medical College at the Infirmary to train women physicians and doctors: 1868

Percentage of U.S. doctors who are women: 33

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Much to the chagrin of home improvement stores, percentage decline in the DIY home improvement market from 2005 to 2010, according to research from Mintel: 21

Percentage of DIYers who say they would like to undertake a major renovation or addition to their home, but they just don't have the funds: 28

Source: Mintel.

Percentage of in-market new car buyers who believe it would be valuable to require a dealer to provide a no-haggle upfront selling price, according to TrueCar's Online Automotive Buying Behavior Report: 90

Percentage of car shoppers who believe that they will not receive a fair price for their trade-in or that the dealer will make up for the loss through other services (financing, extended warranties, etc.): 82

Percentage of respondents who would likely use a car-buying service from a trusted organization to save time and money: 80

Source: TrueCar Inc.

Percentage of women who think a bad skin day is worse than a bad hair day, according to a CosMedix survey: 38

Percentage of women who fear being seen without makeup by their significant other: 22

Source: Cosmedix.

Idle Thought

"There is nothing like desire for preventing the things one says from bearing any resemblance to what one has in one's mind." -- Marcel Proust

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

Percentage of Americans who prioritize economic growth over environmental protection, according to a Gallup Poll: 54

In a 2000 Gallup Poll on the environment, percentage of Americans who favored the environment over the economy: 67

Source: Gallup.

Number of questions across five categories (American government, systems of government, rights and responsibilities, American history and integrated civics) that are asked in the U.S. citizenship test: 100

When the test was administered to 1,000 American adults, percentage who could not qualify to be a citizen of their own country, according to survey results published by Newsweek magazine: 38

Percentage who couldn't name the current vice president: 29

Percentage who were not aware that the U.S. has a capitalist economic system: 67

Source: Newsweek.

Percentage of working parents who are frequently burning a candle on both ends when it comes to juggling a career and kids, according to a national survey commissioned by Care.com Inc.: 44

Percentage of working parents who revealed that they are too stressed from managing their jobs and their families to go to the gym, call a friend or have sex with their spouses: 62

Percentage who reported that they would leave their current jobs for less or considerably less money if that would provide more flexibility in their lives: 25

Source: Care.com.

Percentage of Americans living within 50 miles of a nuclear reactor who do not know "what to do in the event of a nuclear reactor emergency," such as the evacuation route and what other steps to take, according to a major new survey conducted by ORC International for the nonprofit and nonpartisan Civil Society Institute: 52

Percentage of Americans who say they live within 50 miles of a nuclear power reactor: 24

Source: CSI.

Percentage of Americans who believe it is possible for a middle income family to save for a secure retirement, according to a Country Financial survey: 28

Percentage of respondents who indicate they are decreasing the amount they are putting away for their golden years: 43

Source: Country Financial.

Percentage of CFOs who cited time management due to competing priorities as their biggest work challenge, according to a survey developed by Robert Half Management Resources: 38

Percentage who said "keeping up with technology" is their biggest challenge: 30

Source: Robert Half Management Resources.

While 28.9 percent of the nation's population was in poverty for at least two months between the start of 2004 and the end of 2006, percentage who were poor during the entire period, according to a report released by the U.S. Census Bureau: 2.8

For those who were in poverty for two or more consecutive months from 2004 to 2006, median length of a poverty spell: 4.5 months

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of new-car shoppers who indicate that they plan to finance some or all of the cost of their next vehicle purchase, according to Kelley Blue Book: 66

Percentage of shoppers who say they plan to pay the entire cost of their next vehicle in cash: 34

Source: Kelley Blue Book.

Despite the fact that women tend to face higher health care expenses in retirement due to their greater longevity, percentage of women who think they will need to accumulate less than $250,000 for retirement, according to the 21st annual Retirement Confidence Survey by the Employment Benfit Research Institute: 35

Percentage of men who think the same: 26

Percentage of women who say they do not know how much they will need to save: 12

Percentage of men who say the same thing: 5

Source: EBRI.

Percentage of U.S. consumers who have already significantly reduced discretionary spending because of the increase in gas prices, according to the RBC Consumer Outlook Index: 32

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Idle Thought

"To know how to say what other people only think is what makes men poets and sages." -- Elizabeth Rundle Charles, writer

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

Percentage of millionaires who expect a callback from their financial advisers within two hours, according to "Millionaire Investor 2010," a report released by Spectrem Group: 40

Altogether, percentage of investors with a net worth of $1 million to $5 million (not including a primary residence) who want to hear back from their advisers within 12 hours of their initial call: 72

Percentage of millionaires who said not returning calls in a timely manner was the No. 1 reason for changing advisers: 73

Source: Spectrem Group.

Year of the publication of the first "Ten Most Wanted" list by the FBI, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1950

In the years since, number of men and women who have appeared on the list: 494

Of these, number who have been apprehended: 463

Number who were caught as a result of tips from the public: 152

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of Americans who are consciously trying to buy foods that are local, according to the third annual BrandSpark and Better Homes and Gardens American shopper study: 60

Percentage of shoppers who believe private-label products are usually extremely good value: 66

Percentage who prefer purchasing brand-name products when they are on sale rather than private-label products: 66

Source: Better Homes and Gardens.

In 2009, percentage of Americans aged 55 or older with a graduate or professional degree who were in the labor force, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute: 63.1

Percentage of those without a high school diploma who were in the labor force: 22.4

Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Percentage of college students who enter the classroom without basic skills in reading, writing, math and other areas, according to instructors surveyed by Cengage Learning: 25

Source: Cengage Learning.

If regular gas prices reach $4 a gallon across the nation (as many experts have forecasted), the number of additional passenger trips on public transit (buses, trains and subways) that can be expected, resulting in more than 10.8 billion trips per year, according to a study by the American Public Transportation Association: 670 million

If pump prices jump to $5 a gallon, predicted number of additional passenger trips that can be expected, resulting in more than 11.6 billion trips per year: 1.5 billion

Source: American Public Transportation Association.

Ranks of the federal budget deficit, unemployment, energy prices and the financial condition of state and local governments on the list of factors in the U.S. investment climate that investors are most likely to cite, according to the Wells Fargo-Gallup Investor and Retirement Optimism Index survey: 1(tie), 3, 4

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of small business owners who indicate they use mobile applications in their business, according to the 2011 AT&T Small Business Technology Poll: 72

Percentage of owners who said they could not survive without wireless technology or that they would face major challenges to survive without it: 64

Source: AT&T Inc.

Percentage of Americans who continue to have concerns that their personal and financial information would not be kept private and secure if they file their state and federal tax returns using desktop computers, according to a survey commissioned by Taxsoftware.com: 49

Percentage who have some level of concern about using their laptop computers: 44

Percentage who have some level of concern about using smart phones: 43

Source: Taxsoftware.com.

Percentage of Americans who believe that political discussions today are angry and bad-tempered, according to a Harris Poll: 87

Percentage of respondents who believe that "how American politicians treat one another influences how American citizens treat one another": 72

Source: Harris Interactive.

Idle Thought

"That sign of old age, extolling the past at the expense of the present." -- Sydney Smith, writer and clergyman

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