\n<\/strong>Here\u2019s a new way to get people to answer a public-opinion poll: Promise them a free cruise to the Bahamas.<\/p>\nThis morning, I got a robocall from an unidentified public-opinion pollster. After the voice told me that I had been \u201cvery carefully selected\u201d to participate in this poll, he said that, if I answered the questions, I\u2019d get two tickets for a free cruise to the Bahamas, paid for by \u201cone of our sponsors.\u201d How could I resist, right? Hoping to find out who that generous sponsor is, I pressed 1 and took the poll:<\/p>\n
Roboquestion 1<\/em>: What is the most important thing we need to do to restore America\u2019s economic growth? Create more jobs? Institute a flat tax? Reduce the size of government? None of the above? [This question sort of tipped their hand. Let\u2019s see, who would propose a flat tax as a way of restoring America\u2019s economy?]<\/p>\nRoboquestion 2<\/em>: Which party are you most likely to vote for in November? Democrat? Republican? Independent? Don\u2019t plan to vote? [Well, at least they didn\u2019t cut me off when I clicked on Democrat.]<\/p>\nRoboquestion 3<\/em>: Overall, do you approve or disapprove of President Obama\u2019s job as president?<\/p>\nJust three questions, and then I get a trip to the Bahamas? Wow, that was easy. Now, all I had to do was to press 1 to connect with an operator who would “arrange my tickets.”\u00a0 I could almost hear the steel drums playing as I hit #1 on my telephone keypad. Press. Wait. Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Busy signal. Disconnect. And\u2026scene.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Here\u2019s a new way to get people to answer a public-opinion poll: Promise them a free cruise to the Bahamas. This morning, I got<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[476,573],"tags":[1460,1200],"yoast_head":"\n
I answered your questions, now where's my cruise to the Bahamas?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An automated public-opinion poll entices participants by promising a free cruise to the Bahamas.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2012\/02\/17\/i-answered-your-questions-now-wheres-my-free-cruise-to-the-bahamas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I answered your questions, now where's my cruise to the Bahamas?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An automated public-opinion poll entices participants by promising a free cruise to the Bahamas.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2012\/02\/17\/i-answered-your-questions-now-wheres-my-free-cruise-to-the-bahamas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Occasional Planet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Occasional-Planet-325800656245\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-02-17T15:34:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-02-16T04:21:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/steel-drums-bahamas2.gif?fit=480%2C236&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"236\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gloria Shur Bilchik\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Occas_Planet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Occas_Planet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gloria Shur Bilchik\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2012\/02\/17\/i-answered-your-questions-now-wheres-my-free-cruise-to-the-bahamas\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2012\/02\/17\/i-answered-your-questions-now-wheres-my-free-cruise-to-the-bahamas\/\",\"name\":\"I answered your questions, now where's my cruise to the Bahamas?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2012\/02\/17\/i-answered-your-questions-now-wheres-my-free-cruise-to-the-bahamas\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2012\/02\/17\/i-answered-your-questions-now-wheres-my-free-cruise-to-the-bahamas\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/steel-drums-bahamas2.gif?fit=480%2C236&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-02-17T15:34:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-02-16T04:21:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/#\/schema\/person\/7257fb92fde9344f61be5ebfb8ddcbe8\"},\"description\":\"An automated public-opinion poll entices participants by promising a free cruise to the Bahamas.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2012\/02\/17\/i-answered-your-questions-now-wheres-my-free-cruise-to-the-bahamas\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2012\/02\/17\/i-answered-your-questions-now-wheres-my-free-cruise-to-the-bahamas\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2012\/02\/17\/i-answered-your-questions-now-wheres-my-free-cruise-to-the-bahamas\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/steel-drums-bahamas2.gif?fit=480%2C236&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/steel-drums-bahamas2.gif?fit=480%2C236&ssl=1\",\"width\":480,\"height\":236},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2012\/02\/17\/i-answered-your-questions-now-wheres-my-free-cruise-to-the-bahamas\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"I answered your questions, now where\u2019s my free cruise to the Bahamas?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/\",\"name\":\"Occasional Planet\",\"description\":\"Progressive Voices Speaking Out\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/#\/schema\/person\/7257fb92fde9344f61be5ebfb8ddcbe8\",\"name\":\"Gloria Shur Bilchik\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/283a0a7167cfd841ffdc523ad82ceb25?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/283a0a7167cfd841ffdc523ad82ceb25?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gloria Shur Bilchik\"},\"description\":\"Gloria Shur Bilchik is a freelance writer and community volunteer in St. Louis, Missouri. She is the editor of Occasional Planet. She views the preservation of democratic values and progressive programs as vital to making the US a humane, livable place for her children and grandchildren.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/author\/gloria-shur-bilchik\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"I answered your questions, now where's my cruise to the Bahamas?","description":"An automated public-opinion poll entices participants by promising a free cruise to the Bahamas.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2012\/02\/17\/i-answered-your-questions-now-wheres-my-free-cruise-to-the-bahamas\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"I answered your questions, now where's my cruise to the Bahamas?","og_description":"An automated public-opinion poll entices participants by promising a free cruise to the Bahamas.","og_url":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2012\/02\/17\/i-answered-your-questions-now-wheres-my-free-cruise-to-the-bahamas\/","og_site_name":"Occasional Planet","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Occasional-Planet-325800656245\/","article_published_time":"2012-02-17T15:34:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-02-16T04:21:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":236,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/steel-drums-bahamas2.gif?fit=480%2C236&ssl=1","type":"image\/gif"}],"author":"Gloria Shur Bilchik","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Occas_Planet","twitter_site":"@Occas_Planet","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gloria Shur Bilchik","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2012\/02\/17\/i-answered-your-questions-now-wheres-my-free-cruise-to-the-bahamas\/","url":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2012\/02\/17\/i-answered-your-questions-now-wheres-my-free-cruise-to-the-bahamas\/","name":"I answered your questions, now where's my cruise to the Bahamas?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2012\/02\/17\/i-answered-your-questions-now-wheres-my-free-cruise-to-the-bahamas\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2012\/02\/17\/i-answered-your-questions-now-wheres-my-free-cruise-to-the-bahamas\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/steel-drums-bahamas2.gif?fit=480%2C236&ssl=1","datePublished":"2012-02-17T15:34:49+00:00","dateModified":"2013-02-16T04:21:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/#\/schema\/person\/7257fb92fde9344f61be5ebfb8ddcbe8"},"description":"An automated public-opinion poll entices participants by promising a free cruise to the Bahamas.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2012\/02\/17\/i-answered-your-questions-now-wheres-my-free-cruise-to-the-bahamas\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2012\/02\/17\/i-answered-your-questions-now-wheres-my-free-cruise-to-the-bahamas\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2012\/02\/17\/i-answered-your-questions-now-wheres-my-free-cruise-to-the-bahamas\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/steel-drums-bahamas2.gif?fit=480%2C236&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/steel-drums-bahamas2.gif?fit=480%2C236&ssl=1","width":480,"height":236},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2012\/02\/17\/i-answered-your-questions-now-wheres-my-free-cruise-to-the-bahamas\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"I answered your questions, now where\u2019s my free cruise to the Bahamas?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/","name":"Occasional Planet","description":"Progressive Voices Speaking Out","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/#\/schema\/person\/7257fb92fde9344f61be5ebfb8ddcbe8","name":"Gloria Shur Bilchik","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ims.zdr.mybluehost.me\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/283a0a7167cfd841ffdc523ad82ceb25?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/283a0a7167cfd841ffdc523ad82ceb25?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gloria Shur Bilchik"},"description":"Gloria Shur Bilchik is a freelance writer and community volunteer in St. Louis, Missouri. She is the editor of Occasional Planet. She views the preservation of democratic values and progressive programs as vital to making the US a humane, livable place for her children and grandchildren.","url":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/author\/gloria-shur-bilchik\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/steel-drums-bahamas2.gif?fit=480%2C236&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14686"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14686"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14695,"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14686\/revisions\/14695"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}