It’s been a while, but let’s get back in the habit. You send us your “blegs” — that’s when you use a blog to beg for information, a solution to a tough problem, etc. — and we’ll post them here for readers to pitch in to solve your dilemmas.
Here’s an archive of past blegs; they cover everything from firefighter safety to your least favorite songs to settling a loved one’s estate without acrimony. You can leave your blegs in the comments section below or send them to bleg [at] freakonomics [dot] com . Remember, no problem is too hard (or small, or weird) for our readership!
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What interview questions can I ask to help weed out weird people? “Weird” meaning antisocial, incompetent, lazy, disinterested, dishonest, unprofessional, combative and disruptive. I just got out of a work situation where one superior was all of these things, and I’d love to avoid people like this in the future. She seemed normal enough when I interviewed with her. Oh also, the person is in total denial that they are like this, by the way, so outright asking them probably won’t work. These would be questions to ask in both “interviewer” and “interviewee” roles.
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I am a fifth garade teacher at a Title I school. The neighborhood is mostly poverty and the vast majority of the parents are uneducated. A large number of the students I get in fifth grade come in with no critical thinking skills and very little desire for furthering their education. What are the percentages for an entire school or community breaking this chain? I am willing to do whatever is necessary for my students but as of now I am having success with some of my students and I want to expand that to the entire school. Any data, suggestions, theories, etc?
How much does traditional print advertising (magazines, mailers, newspaper inserts) really add in incremental sales? I don’t remember the last time I bought something because of an ad I saw that wasn’t on tv or in my inbox.
With the NFL Draft recently passing, is there anyway you can investigate whether players may be better off signing as undrafted free agents rather than, say, 7th round picks? It always seems like there’s a lot more buzz for UDFA’s than 7th round picks who are usually cut immediately while UDFA’s are given more of a chance after signing.
Does a woman choosing a either to keep her maiden name, or a hyphenated last name have any bearing on the odds of future divorce when compared to women who take on their husband’s name? No sexism or anti-feminism intended by the question, just looking for a trend which may break either way.
As a side note, what happens when two parents, each with a hyphenated last name (from birth), have a child to whom they would like to give a hyphenated name?
What’s the best way, if any, to get a friend or colleague to stop engaging in declasse behavior that you know for a fact has damaged them professionally. Declasse may be the wrong word, but for the purposes of this discussion, I’ll define it as behavior with two characteristics:
1. Others find the behavior disgusting, annoying and/or offensive, and
2. They will not tell you they find it disgusting, annoying and/or offensive, they’ll just try to avoid you in the future