Let’s pursue some things trival

Now there was a challenge for you. Having to use your mind and memory, and even if you didn’t know the answer, to use common sense and logic to seek out the trivia.

So I thought it appropriate to test the ability of Southern Cross readers with this fascinating version of trivial pursuit. Can you guess which of the following are true and which are false? Think carefully about each one; I will provide the answers at the end of this column.

1. Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning

2. Alfred Hitchcock didn’t have a belly button.

3. A pack-a-day smoker will lose approximately two teeth every ten years.

4. People do not get sick from cold weather but a lot more from being indoors.

5. When you sneeze, all bodily functions stop, even your heart.

6. Only 7% of people are left-handed

7. Every minute 40 people in the USA are sent to the hospital for dog bites.

8. Babies are born without kneecaps. They don’t appear until they are 2-6 years old.

9. The average person over 50 will have spent five years waiting in queues.

10. The toothbrush was invented in 1498.

11. The average housefly lives for one month.

12. Some 40000 Americans are injured by toilets each year

13. A coat hanger is more than a metre long when straightened.

14. The average computer user blinks seven times a minute.

15. Your feet are bigger in the afternoon than at any other time of day.

16. Most of us have eaten a spider in our sleep.

17. The real reason ostriches stick their head in the sand is to search for water.

18. The only two animals that can see behind themselves without turning their heads are the rabbit and the parrot.

19. John Travolta turned down the starring roles in the hit movies An Officer and a Gentleman and Tootsie.

20. Michael Jackson owned the rights to the South Carolina state anthem.

21. In most television commercials advertising milk, a mixture of white paint and a little thinner is used in place of the milk.

22. Prince Charles and Prince William never travel on the same airplane, just in case there is a crash.

23. The first Harley Davidson motorcycle, built in 1903, used a tomato can for a carburettor.

24. Most hospitals make money by selling the umbilical cords cut from women who give birth. They are used in vein transplant surgery.

25. Humphrey Bogart was related to Princess Diana.

26. If colourings weren’t added to Coca-Cola, it would be green.

While you are pondering the fact and fiction of these questions, I thought I would indulge my fascination with true to life stories about ageing with this tale of a group of 40-year-old girlfriends discussing where they should meet for dinner.

Eventually they agreed they would meet at the Ocean View Restaurant because the waiters there were all very good looking.

Ten years later, at 50 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally it was agreed they should meet at the Ocean View Restaurant because the food there was very good and the wine selection was excellent.

Ten years on, at 60 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally it was agreed they should meet at the Ocean View Restaurant because there they could eat in peace and quiet and the restaurant had a beautiful view of the ocean.

Ten years later, at 70 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally it was agreed they should meet at the Ocean View Restaurant because the restaurant was wheelchair accessible and even had an elevator.

Ten years on, at 80 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally it was agreed they should meet at the Ocean View Restaurant because they had never been there before.

And now, the moment you have all been waiting for, the answer to my trivial pursuit: They are all true. Now go back and think about #16.

Having done a little more research, I discovered that while all of us have actually eaten a spider at some stage or other, there is a fairly long list of equally nasty nasties that we have swallowed as well.

Another reason, I believe, to make sure that we never forget to say our prayers before going to bed at night.

I really have to wonder whether or not it would be appropriate to say grace before getting into bed.