ON THE LISTS
THE NEFF ZONE -- BY JIM NEFF
CADILLAC NEWS -- JUNE 28, 2025
With the Independence Day weekend upcoming, many picnics and soirees will be on the docket. It's important to have something to add to discussions. Getting opinions about various lists is a good way to send the palaver in myriad directions.
For instance, did you make a grocery list before shopping for your July Fourth menu? “When it comes to the actual list-making, does the method in which you create it really matter? Apparently, yes. And your choice, handwritten or digital, can say a lot about your personality.”
According to UpWorthy.com, if you prefer handwriting, you’re likely To have a mind that operates like a filing cabinet. “Handwriting activates more elaborate and widespread brain connectivity patterns compared to typing. The physical act of moving your hand while writing creates spatial and temporal patterns in the brain that promote learning.”
On the other side, if you prefer a digital list you are extremely efficient and organized.
“People who use digital lists value practicality over sentimentality. These lists can be updated instantly and accessed from almost any device, making them the most efficient, streamlined option.” (https://www.upworthy.com/grocery-lists-personality-handwriting)
Regardless of your shopping list preference, adult beverages will probably be a holiday must-have. Mashed.com has compiled a catalog of the signature beers of each state. “The ability to find good beer made wherever you are in the U.S. is a pretty modern phenomenon. Singling out one beer for every state, then, is a more fruitful exercise now than it was even just a decade ago.”
In Michigan, your crowd would be correct if they guess Bell's Two Hearted IPA. “The history of Bell's in Michigan dates back to the early '80s, and the first batch of Two Hearted IPA debuted in 1997. Key to the Two Hearted IPA recipe is the exclusive use of Centennial hops.” The complete list: https://www.mashed.com/1881290/signature-beer-every-state/.
Libations are important, but food is certainly the centerpiece of any shopping list. For fun, ask folks if they can name foods whose names make no sense. “Throughout history, foods have acquired names that are scientifically, botanically, or geographically inaccurate.”
Strawberries are a good example. “Strawberries quite clearly have the word 'berry' in their name, but they’re not berries in the botanical sense. Botanists call the strawberry a 'false fruit,' or a pseudocarp. A strawberry is actually a multiple fruit that consists of many tiny individual fruits embedded in a fleshy receptacle. Those white specks on the outside are actually the true fruits called achenes.”
Sweetbreads are so named to soften the yuckiness factor. “Sweetbreads are neither sweet nor bread. They are something quite different: organ meats (the thymus or pancreas glands of a calf or lamb).” More of these nonsensical names at: https://interestingfacts.com/biggest-food-misnomers/.
Perhaps you don't want to shop at all. You may want to shorten your list to nearby fast food establishments. If so, WalletHub.com compiled an interesting study. “To determine where fast food purchases cost people the greatest percentage of their income, WalletHub analyzed the prices of fast-food burgers, pizza and fried chicken sandwiches in each of the fifty states.”
Mississippi was in the unwanted number one spot. “Mississippians pay more for fast food relative to their income than anyone else in the country. Buying just one fast-food burger, a small pizza, and a fried chicken sandwich costs residents 0.47 percent of the median monthly household income.”
At the other end of the scale was Massachusetts. The same purchases would only cost 0.29 percent of the median monthly household income.” Michigan finished in the twentieth position at 0.38 percent.” See the breakdown at: https://wallethub.com/edu/states-where-people-spend-the-most-least-on-fast-food/146260.
You can have the best array of beverages and foods, but if the weather does not cooperate any party can be ruined. That's why conversations about the weather are sure to crop up at most get-togethers. DictionaryScoop.com has ten weather facts that are pretty interesting.
Some examples are eye-popping. “Earth experiences about 1.4 billion lightning strikes per year. Tornado Alley, a loosely defined region in the central United States, sees more tornadoes than any other place on Earth. Haboobs are massive dust storms that occur in arid regions, such as the southwestern United States. These towering walls of dust can reach heights of 4,921 feet and travel at speeds of up to sixty mph.” More at: https://www.dictionaryscoop.com/article/Knowing-these-10-weather-facts-can-prove-very-useful-someday.
Finally, patriotism is the theme of this holiday, so another WalletHub.com list is very timely. “In order to determine where Americans have the most red, white and blue pride, WalletHub compared the states across thirteen key indicators of patriotism. Our data set ranges from the state’s military enlistees and veterans to the share of adults who voted in the 2024 presidential election to AmeriCorps volunteers per capita.”
The list is topped by Virginia, Montana, and Vermont. “For every 100,000 civilians in Virginia, there are over 1,850 active-duty military personnel, the third-most in the country. Montana has a relatively large voter turnout. 69.2 percent of the state’s voting population turned out for the 2024 presidential election. Vermonters fulfilled their patriotic duty of jury service, with the state having the highest number of people per capita who served as jurors over the past year.”
At the bottom of the list is Arkansas with a civic engagement rank of fifty. Michigan is in spot number twenty-eight, but is number seventeen in civic engagement. See the entire report at: https://wallethub.com/edu/most-patriotic-states/13680.
Have a safe and happy Fourth of July. By the way, for the dads out there, do you know why there aren’t any Fourth of July knock-knock jokes? (Because freedom rings.) Hey, what did one flag say to the other flag? (Nothing. It just waved.) Oh, and what’s the difference between a duck and George Washington? (One has a bill on his face, and the other has his face on a bill.)
Jim Neff is a local columnist. Read Neff Zone columns online at CadillacNews.com and NeffZone.com/cadillacnews.
