On a first date, the percentage of singles who say that when dining out, they prefer a hearty meal, according to a poll conducted by Grubhub and Tinder: 62

Percentage who prefer a lighter meal: 38

Percentage of respondents who would rule out a second date if the other person didn't offer to pay: 36

Percentage who said it would not be an issue: 64

Source: GrubHub.

In spite of losing his position with Met Life, rank of Snoopy on the list of America's most-liked spokescharacters, according to E-Poll Market Research: 1

Rank of the Budweiser Clydesdales, Lily (from AT&T), Allstate Mayhem, Pillsbury Doughboy, Snuggle Bear on the list: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Source: E-Poll Market Research.

Percentage of U.S. consumers who say the top reason they unsubscribe from email is because they get too many emails in general, according to data released by MarketingSherpa: 26

Source: MarketingSherpa.

Year that the Library of Congress was founded, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1800

Estimated number of books in the Library of Congress: 38 million

Estimated number of libraries there are across the U.S.: 120,000

Estimated number of people who are employed full time by state and local libraries: 87,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of U.S. broadband households that want to use voice to control their entertainment and smart home devices, according to research from Parks Associates: 55

Source: Parks Associates.

Percentage of American pet owners who indicated that their pet's nutrition is just as important as their family's nutrition, according to a survey from Open Farm: 94

Percentage who agree they pay as much attention to the ingredients that go into their pet's food as the ingredients their family eats: 84

Source: Open Farm.

Percentage of Americans who had been abroad in the past year who took their smartphone with them when they traveled, according to a survey by T-Mobile: 69

Percentage of respondents who said they'd rather lose their luggage than their phone: 55

Percentage who would give up a preferred seat on their flight before giving up their phones: 66

Rank of staying connected with family and friends back home on the list of reasons respondents gave for wanting to have their smartphone in hand: 1

Source: T-Mobile.

Percentage of Americans who use the three-syllable pronunciation of the word "caramel" (care-uh-muhl), according to a survey by Werthers to celebrate National Caramel Day: 57

Percentage who pronounce it as "kar-muhl": 43

Source: Ipsos Data.

Percentage of America's top math students who do their homework in a room by themselves, according to a survey sponsored by The Moody's Foundation: 84

Percentage of the students who spend more than 11 hours a week doing homework, while 29 percent spend six to 10 hours: 47

After school, percentage of the students who participate in extracurricular activities such as clubs and student government: 78

Source: Moody's (Economy.com).

Percentage of consumers who said they would be willing to shop at a new store if presented with a cash-back offer, according to a study by RetailMeNot: 33

Percentage who indicated they would be more willing to make a purchase with the ability to combine a coupon with a cash-back offer: 47

Source: RetailMeNot.com.

Idle Thought

"No human being is illegal." -- Elie Wiesel

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

Projected spending for Easter this year, according to a survey by the National Retail Foundation: $18.4 billion

Amount consumers will spend on food: $5.8 billion

Amount on gifts: $2.9 billion

Amount on candy: $2.6 billion

Amount on flowers: $1.2 billion

Source: NRF.

Percentage of constant checkers of email or social media who say that political and cultural discussions on social media cause them stress, compared with 33 percent of non-constant checkers: 42

Percentage of constant checkers who say they worry about negative effects of social media on their physical and mental health, compared with 27 percent of people who don't check as often: 42

Percentage of Americans who agree that periodically "unplugging" or taking a "digital detox" is important for their mental health: 65

Source: American Psychological Association.

Rank of New Hampshire on the list of the best states to retire in, according to a Bankrate.com report: 1

Number of factors that were weighted (cost of living, health care quality, crime, cultural vitality, weather, taxes, senior citizens' well-being and the prevalence of other seniors): 8

Ranks of Colorado, Maine, Iowa and Minnesota on the list: 2, 3, 4, 5

Ranks of Arizona, Florida and Nevada (popular retirement destinations) on the list: 12, 17 and 44

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of Americans who said they would perform five karaoke songs in front of their company if they could avoid paying their taxes, according to GoBankingRates.com: 32

Percentage who would go without Wi-Fi for one year: 18

Percentage who would have their credit score reduced by 50 points: 16

Percentage who would gain 20 pounds: 13

Source: GoBankingRates.com.

Percentage of drivers who believe it is safe to send a text either manually or via voice-dictation systems, according to research compiled through National Safety Council surveys: 47

Percentage who say they feel pressure from employers to check email while driving: 45

Percentage of drivers who say they have crashed in the last three years while they were either commuting or traveling for business: 44

Source: National Safety Council.

Estimated amount in U.S. federal income taxes that Fortune 500 corporations are avoiding by holding more than $2.6 trillion of "permanently reinvested" profits offshore, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy: $767 billion

In their latest annual financial reports, number of these corporations that reveal they have paid an income tax rate of 10 percent or less in countries where these profits are officially held: 29

Source: Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

Percentage of Americans who suffer from stress, according to a survey conducted by Youfit Health Clubs: 70

Percentage of respondents who agree that working out is beneficial for stress relief: 89

Percentage who report working out to be their preferred method of dealing with stress: 31

Source: Youfit Health Clubs.

Percentage of users who haven't changed their social network passwords in more than one year -- with 20 percent having never changed their passwords at all, according to a survey conducted by Thycotic: 53

Percentage of all cybersecurity attacks that involve a weak or stolen password: 80

Percentage of security professionals who have or still use birthdays, addresses, pets' names or children's names for their work passwords: 30

Source: Thycotic.

Year that the first professional fire department in the U.S. was established in Cincinnati, Ohio, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1853

Annual pay for a member of the company: $60

Annual pay for a lieutenant of the company: $100

Annual pay for a captain of the company: $150

Annual pay for the pump wagon driver: $365

Mean annual pay of a professional firefighter today: $41,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of U.S. adults who have at least one of four major sleep disorders -- insomnia, sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome or narcolepsy -- according to a Packaged Facts survey: 34

Annual economic cost of moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in the U.S. (greater than asthma, heart failure, stroke and hypertensive disease), according to a Harvard Medical School Division of Sleep Medicine study: $65 billion to $165 billion

Source: Packaged Facts.

Idle Thought

"A man who lies to himself, and believes his own lies, becomes unable to recognize truth, either in himself or in anyone else, and he ends up losing respect for himself and for others." -- Fyodor Dostoevsky, novelist

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

Percentage of HR managers who feel most employers put too little emphasis on emotional intelligence during the hiring process, according to a survey by OfficeTeam: 30

Percentage of HR managers who identified increased motivation and morale as the greatest benefit of having emotionally intelligent staff: 43

Ranks of reference checks and behavioral-based interview questions on the list of the most common ways companies gauge job applicants' EQ: 1, 2

Source: OfficeTeam.

Average financial loss through divorce (in cash and assets), according to a survey by Experian: $20,000

Percentage of respondents who say their former spouse ruined their credit: 44

As a result, percentage of respondents who say the financial loss of a divorce has them going so far as to say they'll never marry again: 39

Source: Experian Marketing Services.

Percentage of American workers who are saving, but saving no more than 10 percent of their pay, including one-quarter who are saving between 1 percent and 5 percent of their incomes, according to a Bankrate report: 48

Percentage of working Americans who say they don't need to save more: 5

Percentage of working Americans who aren't saving any of their incomes: 21

Rank of "have a lot of expenses" on the list of the biggest reasons for not saving: 1

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of American credit card holders who had their annual fee waived or reduced upon request, according to a new CreditCards.com report: 82

Percentage who had their annual fee waived entirely: 51

Percentage who were successful in negotiating the fee to a lower amount: 31

Percentage of cardholders who have ever made that request: 11

Source: Creditcards.com.

Ranks of health care and the economy on the list of issues that most concern Americans, according to Ipsos research: 1, 2

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Number of children under the age of 5 who are killed by environmental pollutants (that means 1 in 4 deaths of children aged 1 month to 5 years old) every year, according to the World Health Organization: 1.7 million

Source: World Health Organization.

Number of hours of sleep that is recommended per night, according to the American Academy of Neurology: 7 to 9

Percentage of women under 45 who have children who reported getting at least seven hours of sleep, compared to 62 percent of women without children: 48

Number of days per month that younger women with children reported feeling tired: 14 days

Number of days per month that women without children reported feeling tired: 11

Source: American Academy of Neurology.

Number of people who died in alcohol-impaired driving fatalities in 2015, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: 10,265

In 2016, percentage who admitted to driving when they thought they were over the legal limit one or more times within the previous 12 months, compared to 8.0 percent in 2015: 11.7

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Year that Alexander Graham Bell made the first local telephone call, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1876

Today, number of cellphone subscriptions there are for every 100 people in the U.S.: 118

Of America's 118 million occupied housing units, percentage that have no phone service available: 2.5

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of pay-TV subscribers in U.S. broadband households that are bothered by the fact that advertisers use residents' personal viewing data to push personalized ads to them, according to research from Parks Associates: 59

Percentage of pay-TV subscribers who worry about the safety and use of their personal data when they use an online video service: 40

Source: Parks Associates.

Idle Thought

"And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." -- Anais Nin, writer

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