The Fact Thief

There are a wide variety of things in life that people will take chances on. We watch the lottery numbers tick up higher and higher, filling our own heads with dreams of what we’d do if we “won the jackpot”. We drive a little bit over the speed limit, well some of us drive faster than the speed of sound, lets just get that out on the table right here. We like to take chances, more so if they have positive results rather than negative results. I love fun facts. I loved going to the library when I was a kid and some of my favorite books were those about facts and unique things in the world. I can still smell the musty pages of the books I loved to flip through as I write this. Some of the most interesting facts I have come across over the years have been life changing. Take for instance, the apple pie. Truly an American icon that conjures up images of picnics, patriotism, and pride. “As American as apple pie” has been joyfully broadcast by many of us. Well, the apples themselves originated in China and the first written recipe for the version we know and love today, was documented in England. I know, I know, I just ruined your childhood. These are fun facts, facts that make you want to tell your neighbor. The tallest man was eight feet, eleven inches tall and Canada is South of the USA. All these facts and more pitted me up against some of the best schoolyard minds in Bellevue, Nebraska where I spent my kindergarten through sixth grade years.

As I got older my love for interesting facts stayed with me like a loyal puppy. I replaced the playground with the watercooler as my new battlefield and was always eager to spit out an interesting fact of the day, jot something funny on my whiteboard (back when I was working in an office, thanks COVID). One fact, which is the supplement of another fact I like to discuss always seems to intrigue me. Before I get into that interesting fact or facts, Sarah Long wrote a great article called 17 Random Statistics That Will Actually Surprise You, which contains such surprising facts as:

You have a 1 in 36 chance of being called down as a contestant on The Price is Right.

You have a 1 in 160 chance of being audited by the IRS.

You have a 1 in 10,000 chance of being…injured by a toilet?

Pretty interesting facts, right? For my first fact, making its mid-article debut:

One in eleven people shoplift from a retail establishment when they visit that establishment. One in eleven. Usually after this fact everyone is looking around the room, at ten people and trying to figure out which one in the group steals when they go shopping, I mean it is a fact right? Now for the one that really closes the deal, seals the win, and gets the heads spinning.

One out of eleven people shoplift. This is according to the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention which gives you insight into what my day job consists of. However, studies show that a person is only caught one out of every 45 times they shoplift. That is the one that really opens the eyes and gets everyone talking like little school kids. You have a better chance of getting on Price is Right than you do getting caught shoplifting? Very interesting facts for sure and let me be the first to congratulate you on your next watercooler fact challenge win. Note: do with this knowledge as you see fit as I know you all are fine outstanding citizens.