Content for Friday, May 14
Here’s the Net Worth Americans Say You Need to Be Considered Wealthy
Most Americans say that to be considered “wealthy” in the U.S. in 2021, you need to have a net worth of nearly $2 million — $1.9 million to be exact. That’s less than the net worth of $2.6 million Americans cited as the threshold to be considered wealthy in 2020. According to Schwab’s 2021 Modern Wealth Survey, wealth expectations also varied by generation, withyounger Americans saying they felt that lower net worths could be considered wealthy. Here’s the net worth each generation says you need to be considered wealthy in 2021: Millennials (ages 24 to 39): $1.4 million Gen X (ages 44 to 55): $1.9 million Baby boomers (ages 56 to 74): $2.5 million The drop in the net worth expectations could be due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Over half of Schwab’s 1,000 survey respondents, 53%, reported that they were financially impacted in some way by the pandemic. About 1 in 5 say they were laid off or furloughed, while about 26% report their salary was cut or their hours were reduced.
A Third of Americans Ready to Dump Streaming Services Over Lackluster Shows
A new study reveals 70 percent of Americans say they’re watching and streaming even more TV now than at the start of COVID. Not all the shows and streaming services are living up to their hype, and many people are ready to cut their subscriptions. The study found that “Tiger King” is officially the most over-hyped show of the pandemic. “I Care A Lot” and “Schitt’s Creek” round out the top three things respondents watched that they now consider overrated television. “Bridgerton” and “The Crown” came in fourth and fifth place. Also ranking in the top ten most overrated pandemic offerings include “The Mandalorian,” “Wandavision,” and “The Last Dance.” 32% are planning on canceling the streaming services they’re currently using once the country fully reopens. One in three cite cost as the reason they’re planning to cancel a subscription. Of those planning on cutting back their streaming use, nearly half (46%) say Netflix is most likely to get the chop. Hulu (34%) and Amazon Prime (34%) follow closely behind.
America's Best Cities For Barbecue Are... Allegedly
According to a new study… New Orleans has the best barbecue in the US. A foodie magazine (Chef's Pencil) analyzed all the barbecue joints in the 75 largest cities in the country using data from Tripadvisor. The Big Easy topped the list with all but one of the city’s barbecue restaurants received a Tripadvisor rating of 4 or higher. Oklahoma City came in second while Wichita, Virginia Beach and Charlotte tied for third. Here are the best and worst barbecue cities, according to Chef's Pencil, along with their score (out of five): Top cities for barbecue in the U.S. New Orleans, LA- 4.31 Oklahoma City, OK- 4.26 Charlotte, NC- 4.25 Wichita, KS- 4.25 Virginia Beach, VA- 4.25 Columbus, OH- 4.24 Seattle, WA- 4.23 St. Louis, MO- 4.21 Miami, FL- 4.18 Newark, NJ- 4.18 Worst cities for barbecue in the U.S. Anchorage, AK- 3.60 Plano, TX- 3.82 Boston, MA- 3.82 San Antonio, TX- 3.86 Aurora, CO- 3.90 Jacksonville, FL- 3.92 Houston, TX- 3.93 Philadelphia, PA- 3.93 Omaha, NE- 3.93 Fort Worth, TX- 3.94
People Are Sharing The Most Awkward Thing That Happened When They Met Their Partner's Family
1. "I met my Italian ex's family during a summer in Italy, and I didn't speak a word of their language. Well, one night, his parents hosted a big dinner party with all of his extended family, and his mom served chicken cotoletta, which is basically breaded, deep-fried chicken breast similar to the Japanese dish chicken katsu." "She asked him to ask me if I liked the food, and I nervously blurted out, 'Yes, of course — I LOVE katsu!' And suddenly there was silence, except for the laughter of my ex's brother, who was the only other person at the table who spoke English. After a pause, my ex leaned over to inform me that 'katsu' sounds very similar to 'cazzo,' which, in Italian, means PENIS. That's right, I chose the first family dinner to announce to the whole extended family that I indeed love penis." —Digitalengine 2. "When I met my boyfriend's family, they had just gotten a new golden retriever puppy. Well, when my boyfriend and I retired for the night, I changed my underwear because I was on my period — and the new puppy broke into our bedroom the next morning, sniffed out my period panties, and ran away with them!" "It was not a fun time when his parents had to hand me back my dirty underwear! I still have trouble looking them in the eyes sometimes." —Megan McColgan 3. "My ex rotated between her place and mine, and she lived with her dad, sister, and grandma. Her grandma hated my guts, and though she didn't speak English, her disdain for me needed no translation. Well, one night, the bathroom we normally used at her house was broken, so we had to use the main one, where the light wasn't working. In the middle of the night, I felt a shit coming, so I felt my way down the dark hallway into the dark bathroom... I pulled my pants down and felt my way to the toilet, when suddenly I grabbed a handful of Grandma's fleshy thigh! A slew of Cantonese swear words followed, and I was so startled that I apologized profusely, then ran face-first into the doorjamb!"—pseudosapien 4. "My now-husband took me to meet his aunt, uncle, and cousins at a family get-together, and he warned me ahead of time that they like to eat exotic food. Well, when we got there, his aunt asked me, 'Do you like rabbits?' but I heard, 'Do you like rabbit?' assuming she was talking about eating one. I didn't want to sound like I was a fussy eater, so I replied, 'I've never eaten it, but I'll give it a go!' She was asking if I'd like to see her pet rabbit, who had just had babies." "It’s been a decade, and they still pretend to hide their small animals so that I won’t eat them whenever we visit — and to top that off, they send me a birthday card with a rabbit on it every year!" —Saraheds 5. "I was 15 when I met my boyfriend's mom, and we sat down on her bed to talk. Well, I must have gotten my period, because when I stood up, we both immediately saw the bright-red stain on her fresh, white duvet!" "She was so kind about it, though." —graceb40abd7f9e 6. "We were at my girlfriend's parents' house early in our relationship, and I was explaining to her mom about the app I use to read books on my phone. Well, I opened the folder I'd labeled 'Entertainment' to show her the app, and forgot that it was right next to my Pornhub and X Video apps! She didn't say anything, but I turned bright red and quickly closed out of that screen." —leo8503 7. "I met my high school boyfriend's parents on Halloween...dressed as a whoopie cushion." —keke98 8. "I knew that meeting my now-husband's parents was the final step in our relationship, so we traveled to see them. Well, the first night we went out to eat, and our waiter asked us if we wanted dessert. I told my husband's family that I had a major sweet tooth, and said, 'I could eat so much sugar, I could wind up in dentures and still keep eating candy!' I thought it was a funny joke, until his mom flatly responded, 'I wear dentures.' Awkward."—superbleak 9. "I dated a guy my sophomore year of high school, and while we hung out at his house a few times, it wasn't anything serious. Well, two years later, I ended up dating his older brother, who was away at college when I dated the younger one, so he never knew. Things were definitely more serious with the older brother, and when he brought me home to meet his parents, the first thing they said was, 'You look really familiar.'" "I then had to announce to the parents and the older brother that I used to date the younger one."—melissaw23 10. "In high school, I dated the same guy twice, about a year apart. Well, the second time we dated, I went to meet his family and was decorating Christmas cookies with his younger siblings when his little brother looked me in the eye and said, 'You're way nicer than the other Jennifer he dated.' I'm the only Jennifer he's ever dated." —cdhc99
America's Top Companies: Partisan Brands Becoming More Popular
Americans are leaning into companies that have strong political positions. The Axios/Harris 100 poll gauges the reputation of the most visible brands in the country. New rankings show that brands with clear partisan identifications are becoming more popular. Patagonia is the top brand in America, according to the new survey. The brand, which in 2017 sued the Trump Administration to protect national monuments, took a further turn left last year, sewing "VOTE THE ASSHOLES OUT" tags in its clothing ahead of the election. REI, Patagonia's outdoor apparel rival and fellow Trump antagonist, appeared on the list for the first time this year. Several prominently conservative brands performed well, too. Chick-fil-A moved up in the rankings, from 11 last year to 4 this year. Hobby Lobby appeared on the list for the first time, as did Goya, which became a political lightning rod after the company's CEO praised then-President Trump. All three have positive reputations. Americans listed MyPillow and the Trump Organization among the companies they're most aware of, but both have strongly negative reputations. The Trump Organization came in last place in this year's rankings. ** While many of the most polarizing companies are doing better than last year, they aren't necessarily the most visible companies. The most visible companies are blue-chip brands that consumers relied on heavily throughout the pandemic, such as Amazon and Walmart, Apple, Facebook, Google, Target, Microsoft, Wells Fargo, Nike and McDonald’s. "Coronavirus companies" that ranked high on the list last year, including Clorox, Peloton and Doordash, have all moved off of this year's list. Methodology: The Axios Harris Poll 100 is based on a survey of 42,935 Americans in a nationally representative sample conducted April 8-21, 2021. The two-step process starts fresh each year by surveying the public’s top-of-mind awareness of companies that either excel or falter in society. These 100 “most visible companies” are then ranked by a second group of Americans across the seven key dimensions of reputation to arrive at the ranking. If a company is not on the list, it did not reach a critical level of visibility to be measured. 10 Most Popular Companies #1 Patagonia #2 Honda Motor Company #3 Moderna #4 Chick-fil-A #5 SpaceX #6 Chewy #7 Pfizer #8 Tesla Motors #9 Costco #10 Amazon.com
NFL: Tom Brady’s Return To Gillette Stadium Could Draw Record Ticket Prices
The NFL released its full schedule Wednesday night, and there’s a game that could bring in record ticket prices: the Sunday Night Football matchup between the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4. Demand for the October 3 game is already massive. Fans who want to see Brady play as a ‘visitor’ in Gillette Stadium for the first time, could pay close to $1,000 a ticket just to get into the nosebleeds upstairs. One ticket broker said, “It could be a record for an NFL game that’s not a Super Bowl.” Patriots fans said they’d give just about anything to get the chance to be at the Patriots-Bucs game. But for most, that probably won’t be the case if that means paying $1,000 a ticket.
Chrissy Teigen's Cookware Line REMOVED By Target
Chrissy Teigen and Target parted ways yesterday (Thursday)… just a day after the model apologized to Courtney Stodden for telling the teen bride to commit suicide in resurfaced tweets from 2011. The retail giant removed her cookware line Cravings by Chrissy Teigen last month but sources say that the partnership ended in December last year and had nothing to do with the controversy. Target is still selling three of her cookbooks. Teigen issued a lengthy apology to Stodden on Wednesday over abusive messages she tweeted in 2011, where she encouraged Stodden to end her life.
Over 65 Percent of Pet Owners Would Dump A Partner Their Cat Or Dog Didn't Like
A majority of pet owners would dump their partner if their cat or dog didn’t like them. Researchers surveyed 2,000 single and dating pet owners in the US. They found 68% said their pet has the final say in who they date. And 71% of respondents trust their pet's judgment over their own while 68% trust their pets more than their friends and 67% trust them more than their own family.
Target to Stop Selling Pokemon Cards
Target has decided to no longer sell Pokemon trading cards after a violent confrontation last week in a Target parking lot. Starting today, Target will no longer sell trading cards, nor MLB, NFL, or NBA sports cards in their stores. The decision appears to have been made because of an incident in Wisconsin in which police say a 35-year-old man was assaulted by 4 others in a fight over sports trading cards. It led to the victim, who had a concealed carry permit, to pull out his gun during the assault. No shots were fired, and the victim suffered just minor injuries, but it was enough to make Target take action. In a statement, Target said, “The safety of our guests and our team is our top priority. Out of an abundance of caution, we've decided to temporarily suspend the sale of MLB, NFL, NBA, and Pokemon trading cards within our stores." Target hasn’t completely abandoned trading card sales, you can still purchase Pokemon cards and sports trading cards on Target’s website.
(Think YOU Had A Bad Day?)... Woman Says $26M California Lottery Ticket Was Destroyed in the Wash
The winner of a $26 million California Lottery prize may have literally washed the chance of a fortune down the drain. The winning SuperLotto Plus ticket for the Nov. 14 drawing was sold at an Arco AM/PM convenience store in the Los Angeles suburb of Norwalk. Thursday was the last day to redeem it. Nobody did. Store employee Esperanza Hernandez explained that a woman came in Wednesday and told workers that she had put the ticket in her pants and it was destroyed in the laundry. The store’s manager says surveillance video showed the woman who bought the ticket, and she's known to store workers. A copy of the surveillance video was turned over to California Lottery officials. The claim will be investigated. Lottery officials say someone who believes he or she is a winner must complete a claim form. But if someone loses a ticket, they must provide evidence that they owned it, such as a photograph of the front and back of the ticket. The winning numbers were: 23, 36, 12, 31, 13, and the mega number of 10. The $26 million prize can be taken in annual installments or as a $19.7 million cash option. If the prize isn't claimed, the $19.7 million will go to California public schools. The store that sold the ticket will receive a $130,000 bonus. MORE: It's uncommon for large jackpots to go unclaimed. Four prizes of $20 million or more haven't been claimed since 1997, including a $63 million prize from 2015.
Today's AUDIO:
Topic Starters: What is the strangest thing you've been asked in a job interview?
CDC Announces Fully Vaccinated People Don't Need Masks
Ohio Offering $1 Million Prize For Vaccinated People
Ellen Talks With Oprah
Jennifer Lawrence Dropped Breaking News About 'Bennifer'
Prince Harry Talks With Dax Shepard Podcast
Ellen Talks About Show Controversy
Today's SOCIAL CONTENT:
