Average dog?
Since I’ve identified myself as average, I think it’s reasonable to explain myself a bit. But first I had to look up average, because I wasn’t quite sure of the definition. I think, but I am not certain, that the average person uses words that, although they have a pretty good idea what they mean, upon reflection are not exactly certain of their definitions. Unless specified, the stats given here apply to America, and are the most recent I could find from a reliable-sounding source, for example, the US Department of Commerce and the Pew Research Center.
Although I’ve had more than the average number of years of education (“some” years of college; trending toward increasing), there is so very much that I still don’t know. Like the Average American, I own a computer (76%), so I used the Internet (access: 74.9% in 2004) to look up the definition. I Googled it (73% use Google or Yahoo when searching for specific information).
There are a surprising number of definitions of “average”, from very objective (“Any measure of central tendency, especially any mean, the median, or the mode.”) to subjective (“Lacking special distinction, rank, or status.”). The definition I will use is: “an intermediate scale value regarded as normal or usual”. Sounds good enough to me.
I belong to the middle class (again, class definitions vary widely; one source defines the top 1% of wage earners as the “capitalist class”!). Like the average American, I own my home (67% of housing units are owner occupied). I have a mortgage on it (67%). I would love to be among the 33% who own their houses outright.
My average number of children are grown (physically). I was part of a duel-income couple (42%), but am now single (“most” first marriages end in divorce). In my (majority) white-collar workplace, I desire more autonomy (majority of my fellow Americans). I am not part of the largest single occupation in the United States (secretaries; 4.1 million in 2004).
Like most, I get my news (average: 67 minutes a day) from national (57%) and local (54%) television. I used to be one of the 40% who read a newspaper on a typical day, but I had to give that up as a luxury I could not afford. As a result, I am one of a growing number of people (23%) who get a significant amount of my information online.
I have hobbies*. I garden (#7), watch movies (#4 if I go out, #8 if I rent), read (#1), though not enough, take care of my dogs (#40), watch TV (#2), use my computer for recreation (#6), do crafts (#25), and like to take photographs (not listed, which is weird, as 47% of American households own a digital camera. I exercise (#10) but definitely do not consider that a hobby. ( “But you blog,” you might challenge, “which is not average.” I don’t know about that. About 170,000 new blogs are created every day.)
I worry about the economy (54%). I am somewhere between struggling (42%) and thriving (54%). I worry I may not be able to pay off my house. I spend less than the average amount of $52 a day on non-household-related expenses. I think those who spend $52 a day on non-household-related expenses must be in that “thriving” group. I am reasonably happy. I would rate myself somewhere between “a lot of happiness/enjoyment without a lot of stress/worry” (41%) and “a lot of stress/worry without a lot of happiness/enjoyment” (13%). I am in the minority (32%) who experience physical pain on a daily basis (arthritis, if you are curious). I am happy for those who do not (48%).
Like the majority of Americans, I am overweight (63%), and do not eat the recommended 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day (80%). I am working on it, though. I (all 100% of me) believe Photoshop** is to a great degree responsible for the demoralization of the average woman. Consider this: photographs of models - women who are 5 inches taller yet weigh 23% less than the average american woman (5’4”, 155 pounds), and who have spent hours having their make-up and hair done before being photographed, are routinely ‘shopped’, having their eyes enlarged, their necks/legs elongated, their ears/waists trimmed and, at times, having entire body parts (hands, feet, legs) replaced, not to mention the erasure of normal blemishes, to meet industry standards of acceptable beauty. I refuse to read fashion magazines. They are not good for my morale.
I would write more, but (in an effort to spend less) I’m headed off to a matinee!
I hope you have a fulfilling day.
(The photo above is not your average dog. It is a Czechoslovakian Wolfdog.)
* (Steven M. Gelber wrote seriously of this in his 1999 book, "Hobbies: Leisure and the Culture of Work in America”. An amazing trip down memory lane starting with Victorian collectibles, he opines on the evolution of why people have hobbies at all.)
** for a short You Tube demonstration of common Photoshop enhancing techniques, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP31r70_QNM&feature=related
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