Busy, Busy, Busy

Did you know that Americans buy 750 tons of cauliflower, use 313 million gallons of fuel, spend $200,000 on roller skates and eat 200 million pounds of fresh fruit every day?

These startling facts--along with many others (6,000 teen-agers lose their virginity, 50,000 television sets are bought and 20,000 are thrown away, 1,250 tonsils are taken out, along with 850 appendixes)--come to us by way of a recent book called, appropriately, “In One Day: The Things Americans Do in a Day,” by Tom Parker (Houghton Mifflin). Since this slim volume came across our desk, we have been picking up tidbits galore. On the average day, the book says, Americans make 110 holes-in-one, smoke 85,000 pounds of marijuana, jog 28 million miles, make 100,000 speeches and publish 125 new books.

Interesting as it is, we’re not sure exactly what to do with this information. Dropping a few of these facts at a cocktail party might liven things up--or stop conversation cold. Statistics junkies will revel in the facts themselves, and there’s something to be said for that. They do demonstrate that there are a lot of Americans out there pursuing many different tastes and interests--but you probably knew that already.

Perhaps the most amazing fact is on the cover: “In one day Americans print enough counterfeit money to buy 30,000 copies of this book.” At $7.95, that’s $238,500. It sounds like more.