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Old 13-September-2007, 04:11 PM
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Default Bananas by the mile.

OK; another useless trivia survey/story that you may find interesting.

Wal-mart purchases
Quote:
Wal-Mart provided ABC with exclusive access to their distribution centers to see exactly how the company operates and what Americans buy.
A few comments to note:

Quote:
double the number of people who turned out to vote in the last presidential election, shop at Wal-Mart each year.
Considering the number of times you need something from the store compared to the number of opportunities to vote and the number of people who can vote... is this significant?

Quote:
The chain sells 390,000 miles of bananas each year, enough to go around the world six times, ABC reported
Is there a standard length per pound?

And; before you can say "boxers or briefs", you may want to stock up on Pop-tarts before the next storm.
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Old 13-September-2007, 04:42 PM
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Funny, slightly related story- when bananas were first imported to the U.S., nobody wanted to buy them, so they rotted on the ship.
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Old 14-September-2007, 10:44 AM
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Quote:
Quote:
The chain sells 390,000 miles of bananas each year, enough to go around the world six times, ABC reported

Is there a standard length per pound?
Someone should actually try this. It would be some record, place bananas end to end around the planet. The logistics would be a nightmare, theft/sabotage is another concern.
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Old 14-September-2007, 03:51 PM
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The chain sells 390,000 miles of bananas each year, enough to go around the world six times, ABC reported

The circumference of the Earth is about 25,000 miles, so that many bananas would go around the Earth almost 40 times. Basic math, anyone?

double the number of people who turned out to vote in the last presidential election, shop at Wal-Mart each year.

Considering the number of times you need something from the store compared to the number of opportunities to vote and the number of people who can vote... is this significant?


If they're saying that about 200 million people shopped in a Wal Mart last year, are they saying 200 million different people or is it 200 million visits (which could be something like 20 million different individuals each going to Wal Mart an average of 10 times in a year)?
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Old 14-September-2007, 04:11 PM
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Default Nightmare

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Originally Posted by mfumbesi View Post
Someone should actually try this. It would be some record, place bananas end to end around the planet. The logistics would be a nightmare, theft/sabotage is another concern.
I'd like to tie all of the Bubble Tape Gum on Earth together into one long strand, tie it to a rocket and see if it reached to the moon. But the gum would just melt on take-off. Talk about a nightmare.
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Old 14-September-2007, 04:47 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Jacks View Post
The chain sells 390,000 miles of bananas each year, enough to go around the world six times, ABC reported

The circumference of the Earth is about 25,000 miles, so that many bananas would go around the Earth almost 40 times. Basic math, anyone?
Oh, come now... this is Wal-mart... everythings on a grander scale. Thier Earth is 55,000 miles in circumference. More room to expand to more stores.

BTW: I'd like to see your math.
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Old 15-September-2007, 08:42 AM
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Default Re: Bananas by the mile.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mfumbesi View Post
Someone should actually try this. It would be some record, place bananas end to end around the planet. The logistics would be a nightmare, theft/sabotage is another concern.
A person actually tried this back in 1958. But just as he was about to make the final measurement, he slipped on something.
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Old 15-September-2007, 08:44 AM
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I love banana split.

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Old 15-September-2007, 05:33 PM
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Bananas aside, I've always thought that Wal-Mart was a life form similar to the one described by Stanley Weinbaum in "A Martian Odyssey". I'm referring to the enigmatic rock pyramids that the protagonist and his Martian buddy Tweel trace across the Martian plain. The first are very small, ancient and the tops have been broken open. As the protagonist and Tweel continue, the pyramids grow larger and larger (and younger) until they encounter the last one which is still capped, i.e. inhabited.

Wal-Marts tended to exhibit the same behavior -- at least in my native Arkansas -- moving to a larger facility while leaving the older, empty shell vacant. Oh, it's true -- opportunistic creatures going by the name of Sam's Club or Bud's sometimes took over these empty shells, but one could usually trace the pattern of movement of a town's Wal-Mart by the empty storefronts left behind. I suspect that Wal-Mart has entered a new stage of their life history or perhaps the species has evolved since many of the stores now grow by simple expansion into a Super Wal-Mart.
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