Percentage of American kids who are visited by the tooth fairy, according to a Visa Inc. survey: 90

Not immune from the country's lingering economic challenges, average amount of money left by the popular cuspid collector in 2011, a 40-cent decrease from last year's $3 per tooth: $2.60

Percentage of children who receive no money from the tooth fairy: 10

Source: GfK Roper.

Percentage of teachers who favor getting rid of incompetent teachers, regardless of seniority, according to a national survey of public school teachers conducted by the National Center for Education Information: 90

Percentage of public school teachers hired since 2005 who entered teaching through alternative teacher preparation programs -- up from 22 percent of new teachers hired between 2000 and 2004, 8 percent in the '90s and 4 percent in the '80s: 40

Source: National Center for Education Information.

At a crowded beach, percentage of people who consider six feet to be the closest acceptable distance to sit next to another stranger, according to the results of the annual beach etiquette survey by TripAdvisor: 28

Percentage who are comfortable with three feet: 28

Percentage of respondents who consider it unacceptable for a stranger to request assistance with applying suntan lotion: 79

Source: TripAdvisor.

Number of times greater that the median wealth of white households is compared to that of black households, according to a Pew Research Center analysis that provides the first look at how the Great Recession impacted the wealth of white, black and Hispanic households: 20

Number of times greater that the median wealth of white households is compared to that of Hispanic households: 18

Source: Pew Research Center.

Year "The Shadow," one of the most popular programs heard on radio during its golden age, was heard for the first time, though its famous opening did not appear until several years later, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1930

Year the last show in the series was heard: 1954

Number of radio stations in the United States when "The Shadow" premiered in 1930: 618

Estimated number of stations there are today: 14,300

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of businesses that say they were planning a company picnic this summer with everything from Frisbees, dunk tanks and egg races to drinking games, jousting and medical testing, according to a survey from the Advertising Specialty Institute: 41

Percentage that say they were hosting a picnic for the first time or the first time in recent years: 8

Percentage of employees who say they generally attend: 50

Source: Advertising Specialty Institute.

Percentage of employees who said they want flex time (e.g. summer Fridays or ability to leave early on certain days), according to an Adecco Staffing U.S. survey of employees in the summer of 2011: 60

Percentage who said they'd like extra vacation days this summer: 53

Percentage of Americans who indicated they believe that it's appropriate to dress more casually in the summer: 74

Source: Adecco.

Percentage of Americans who track their spending against a monthly budget, according to a study conducted for Bankrate: 58

Percentage of Americans who reported higher net worth than one year ago: 26

Percentage of Americans who have adequate emergency savings: 24

Source: Bankrate.com.

Based on a five-point scale, where five is a great impact of caregiving on their performance at work and one is no impact, percentage of working caregivers who chose five, according to a special survey of Americans who self-identified as caregivers in Gallup Daily tracking surveys throughout 2010: 10

Percentage who picked somewhere between two and four: 44

Percentage of caregivers who reported one to five days missed work days per year because of caregiving duties: 36

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of Americans who believe that the state of sportsmanship is worse now than when they were growing up, according to the annual Awards and Recognition Association's survey on the state of sport: 71

Percentage of respondents who want good sportsmanship to be rewarded: 80

Source: Awards and Recognition Association.

Idle Thought

"A neurosis is a secret that you don't know you're keeping." -- Kenneth Tynan, critic and writer

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

Percentage of managers who said beginning or ending late tops their list of meeting pet peeves, according to a survey developed by Accountemps: 31

Percentage who said getting the group together unnecessarily was their top pet peeve: 27

Source: Accountemps.

Ranks of smile (52 percent), eyes (37 percent), backside (6 percent) and hair (5 percent) on the list of attractive features as cited by the opposite sex, according to a poll by the dating service It's Just Lunch: 1, 2, 3, 4

Ranks of bad teeth (31 percent), smoking (29 percent), overweight (27 percent) and someone who still lives at home with their parents (11 percent) on the list of the biggest turnoffs: 1, 2, 3, 4

Ranks of kindness (34 percent), intelligence (19 percent), confidence (14 percent), ambition (6 percent) and humor (2 percent) on the list of character traits most looked for in a first date: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: It's Just Lunch/American Way.

Percentage of Americans, growing more wary of mounting student loan debt and the value of higher education, who say the expected average level of student loan debt of $29,000 is too high, according to a Country Financial survey: 81

Percentage who say, given the rising costs, a college education is not a good financial investment, up seven points from 2010: 26

Percentage of parents who say it is more important to save for their own retirement over a child's college education, up three points from 2010 and four points from 2009: 46

Source: Country Financial.

Percentage of food shoppers who believe prices in food stores are escalating, according to Deloitte's Consumer Food and Product Insight Survey: 87

Percentage who say the size of some packaged goods is smaller: 74

Source: Deloitte.

Percentage of Americans who say the most important financial problem their family faces today is a lack of money and low wages, according to a Gallup Poll: 17

Percentage who say they worry most about health care costs: 12

Percentage who say they have too much debt and not enough money to pay debts: 11

Source: Gallup.

Estimated number of dogs that reside in more than 46 million U.S. households, according to the American Pet Products Association: 78 million

Percentage of dog owners who have driven with their dog at least once a month in the past year, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety: 56

Percentage who take their attention away from the road to pet their dog: 52

Percentage who have reached into the backseat to interact with their dog: 18

Source: AAA.

Among younger American workers age 18 to 29 who said workplace training would be more valuable if it were available remotely through handheld mobile devices, according to a Work Place Options poll: 75

Percentage of respondents age 30 to 45 who held this view: 40

Percentage aged 46 to 65 who reflected this view: 26

Source: Work Place Options.

Percentage of adults who prefer to have sex during evening hours, according to the results of the Adam and Eve Great American Sex Survey: 52

Ranks of late night (47 percent), morning (33 percent) and afternoon (21 percent) on the list of preferred times: 2, 3, 4

Source: Adam and Eve.

Approximate percentage of annual revenues at theme parks that are accounted for by admissions, according to Mintel: 60

Percentage that is accounted for by food and beverage: 17

Percentage accounted for by merchandise: 10

Source: Mintel.

Percentage of U.S. adults who say they will not be going away this summer, according to the results from an IBOPE Zogby interactive poll: 58

Of those who will be traveling, percentage who say they plan to spend less than in years past: 56

Source: Zogby International.

Idle Thought

"The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook." -- William James, psychologist and philosopher

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

3

MACINTYRE 7/31/11

Percentage of shift workers who believe that they are negatively impacted by their shift work and report issues associated with work productivity, negative emotions, concern about sex life and decreased time spent with family, according to the Men's Health Network: 79

Percentage of shift workers who want a change in job or hours, but who don't think it will be possible in the near future: 52

Percentage who feel that they will have the same job until they retire: 44

Source: Men's Health Network.

Year the ice cream sundae was introduced by Wisconsin druggist Edward Berners to skirt the strict Sabbath laws of the time, according to the Census Bureau: 1881

Year the ice cream cone became popular at the St. Louis World's Fair: 1904

Average number of pounds of frozen dairy products eaten by Americans each year: 25

Source: Census Bureau.

Number of coupons marketers distributed in 2010 -- the largest single-year distribution quantity ever recorded in the United States, according to a report released by Valassis: 332 billion

Percentage growth in grocery coupon redemption volume in 2010 compared to the prior year, and up 29.4 percent since 2006: 10

Source: Valassis.

Percentage of all Americans -- and even more parents -- who admit they can't afford to be sidelined by health issues for three months or more, according to an Anthem Blue Cross survey: 50

Estimated number of lost work hours per year in America, due to stress and health problems: 2.8 million

Odds that a new worker will experience a long-term disability before retirement, according to the Council for Disability Awareness: 1-in-3

Source: Blue Cross.

Percentage of adults who report that they recycle, according to a national survey conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of Yesterday's News: 87

Percentage who say they recycle every day: 51

Percentage who admit that they never recycle: 13

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Rank of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2" on the list of films with the highest presale of all time, eclipsing all other movie releases, according to movietickets.com: 1

Number of other Harry Potter films on the top 10 list: 3

Source: Movietickets.com.

Amount lost by U.S. workers in earnings annually, including $7.2 billion in earnings from workers in the copyright industry or "downstream" retail industries, and $9.1 billion in earnings by workers in other U.S. industries due to offshore rogue websites distributing illegal, pirated content and counterfeit goods, according to the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI): $16.3 billion

Estimated amount lost by the U.S. government in tax revenues annually, including $1.8 billion in personal income tax and $800 million in lost corporate income and production taxes: $2.6 billion

Source: Institute for Policy Innovation.

Average self-reported daily consumer spending in stores, restaurants, gas stations and online per day during June, according to a Gallup poll: $69

Average upper-income daily consumer spending (among Americans making $90,000 or more annually) in June: $124

Source: Gallup Organization.

Percentage of dieters who were unable to keep the weight off past six months, according to a national survey by the Calorie Control Council: 66

Over a 12-month period, percentage of all dieters who attempted two or more weight-loss efforts: 50

Rank of "not enough exercise" (69 percent), "metabolism slowing" (62 percent) and "too much snacking" (52 percent) on the list of obstacles to achieving a healthy weight: 1, 2, 3

Source: Calorie Control Council.

Idle Thought

"Lying to ourselves is more deeply ingrained than lying to others." -- Fyodor Dostoyevsky

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