Which Do You Prefer: Chunky or Smooth?

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

On an average day in Canada there are 522 marriages, 214 divorces, 17
books by Canadian authors published, 17 million Smarties manufactured, 8
sets of twins born, 274 letters sent to Brian Mulroney, and 822 car
stereos stolen.

On an average day, Canadians purchase 2740 personal computers and 274
Tilley Endurables hats, manufacture 3 million aspirin, eat more than 5
million bananas, spend $5.4 million on cosmetics, and consume 16.4
million bottles of domestic beer.

This entire book is devoted to such statistics. From the mundane to the
esoteric, there’s a statistic on what Canadians do on an average
day—what we buy, what we eat, what we read, what we pay to and receive
from the government.

Such a collection of numbers provides great quotes for small talk
(e.g., Did you know Canadians prefer smooth peanut butter to chunky by a
ratio of two to one?) and lots of filler for school essay assignments.
Some of it may revise your opinion about Canadians’ sense of humor
(e.g., “When asked, 1,620,000 Canadians say they believe Elvis is
still alive”). Beyond these uses, the value of the work is a puzzle.
Many of the stats lack sufficient explanation to be useful. A section on
how various groups of Canadians spend their day shows that not all
Canadians enjoy a 24-hour day: Are these errors or are the totals
supposed to be funny? If it is to be used for any serious purpose, the
work would have benefited from some definitions. For example, what does
the “personal care” activity include that employed Canadians, on an
average day, spend 10 hours and 24 minutes doing? A book to be enjoyed,
but used with caution.