The cover of this month’s Time Magazine reads, “American by the Numbers”. The issue's intent is to take a snapshot of the average American day.
As a 6’ 2”, 190lb, white male many perhaps see me as a dime a dozen. Those stats may be true, but lets just take a look and see how "average" I really am.
Average Commute: 24 min (US) 27.8 (Seattle)
My Commute: 2 minutes
Comments: I have the wonderful privilege of living one block from my school. Thus I roll out of bed 15 minutes before class, grab an apple, and am welcomed by Molly at the front desk right at 9am. Taryn’s commute to Bellevue can be as long as an hour, therefore she brings our average household commute time very close to the national average.
Average time spent eating and drinking / day: 1 hour and 14 minutes
My time spent eating and drinking: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Comments: Its hard to get in and out of a Seattle restaurant in 40 minutes. Service is generally slow as most establishments in our area are crowded. Although, if we were to calculate the amount of time it takes for me to actually devour a meal, it would be about 12 minutes. When I sit down to eat its all business, friends. Give me a fork and get out of my way.
Average time spent watching television: 2 hours 35 minutes
My time spent watching television: 15 – 4 hours
Comments: I could calculate a daily average but it would be difficult. There are days that the TV does not come on in our home. However, if there is a Suns or Cubs game on, chances are I am not missing a shot/pitch. In addition, now that we have a DVR, our TV watching time is up. It’s a good thing Tila Tequilla’s Shot at Love is only 35 minutes without commercials. I can’t believe she voted Steven off.
Average amount of exercise / day: 17 minutes
My average time spent exercising: 40 minutes
Comments: I am using the term exercise very loosely here. When I walk up to Cafe Bella to get a free coffee from the Longbrake, I count that as exercise. Why would I count walking 6 blocks as exercise? Well, when I walk around this city, I don’t stroll, I hover. I walk so briskly that you are not even sure if my heal ever touches the ground. That “hovering exercise” is then erased by the 450 calorie croissant that I eat (in less than a minute), but it is exercise none the less. You throw in my 4 weekly visits to the gym, and I average somewhere around 40 minutes a day.
Each day Americans consume an average of:
- 160,968 bottles of Absolut Vodka
- 443,650 large fries at Burger King
- 58,863,993 fresh eggs
- 1 Chipotle Burrito Bowl (chicken, light rice, black beans, medium salsa, and cheese)
- 1/6 roll of toilet paper
- 3 eggs
Check out some of the other statistics here. How do you match up? How do you think these averages would compare to other world regions? Europe? Asia? What can we conclude from this data?
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That website was fun!!