There are an estimated 23 million shoplifters in the U.S. The cost to retailers is more than $27 million each day.
Two-thirds of adults say the most important issue for couples to discuss before getting married is children. The other key issues for couples to discuss before marriage are: finances, 32%; religion, 19%; work-life issues, 7%; others, 5%.
More than four in 10 adults say being chilly is their top home comfort complaint.
Among college undergraduates, seniors (75%) are more likely than freshmen (62%) to say they often ask questions in class or contribute to class discussions.
The safe exposure limit for noise is 85 decibels for eight hours a day. Every time the volume level increases by three decibels, the safe exposure time drops by half. A car stereo can pump out 125 decibels, an iPod on high can produce 115 decibels and a boom box can create 100 decibels.
When male cicadas sing to attract females, their chorusing is louder than the sound of city traffic. Fire crackers are 120 decibels; cicadas 90 decibels; city traffic 80 decibels.
Nearly half (48%) of adults who drive and have a cell phone say they talk at least sometimes while driving; they are most likely to live in the West.
Nearly seven in 10 people say their pets are members of the family.
Overall spending on pets is close to $40 billion in 2005, more than double what it was in 1994.
Nearly 43,000 people died on U.S. roads in 2004, the latest year available. There were 36,868 deaths on non-interstate highways and 5,762 deaths on interstate highways.
Despite reports that dark chocolate is beneficial to heart health, 47% of adults still prefer milk chocolate.
While only 2% of U.S. homes do not have a television, 54% have three or more, 29% have two and 15% have only one.
Nearly seven in 10 kids ages 8–16 (68%) have a TV in their bedroom, 53% have a VCR or DVD, 49% have a video game player and 31% have a computer.
More than seven in 10 adults say they watch movies at home at least once a week.
Workers say their phones are coated with germs and the University of Arizona microbiologist agrees. Phones have 25,127 germs per square inch and keyboards have 3,295.
About half of adults (48%) say they use the Internet for managing their personal banking and finances.
Sixty-nine percent of U.S. workers ages 16 and older log at least 40 hours a week at their jobs.
Source: usatoday.com/news/snapshot.htm
