The Best Valentine's Day Factoid You'll Hear Today

Here's an interesting bit of trivia on this Valentine's Day: According to a recent survey, 5 percent of Americans would dump their spouse in exchange for being able to telecommute. Of course, 5 percent of any group of people surveyed would probably dump their spouse in exchange for a ham sandwich or a candy bar. Be that as it may, this particular survey was pretty revealing.

 

Harris Interactive in January conducted the survey of 2,630 adults in the United States, on behalf of TeamViewer, a provider of remote control and online meeting software. It found that a lot of people would really love to be able to telecommute, and that they'd be willing to sacrifice quite a bit if it meant they could get that perk. Here are some of the things they'd be prepared to give up:

 

• Social media (34 percent)
• Texting (30 percent)
• Chocolate (29 percent)
• Smartphone (25 percent)
• Shopping (20 percent)
• A salary increase (17 percent)
• Half of vacation days (15 percent)
• Daily showers (12 percent)

 

In case you're curious, women were more willing than men to give up daily showers (14 percent vs. 10 percent). I have no idea what to make of that. But back to the willingness to dump a spouse: According to the survey, the 5 percent figure was fairly consistent between men and women and across age groups, but not across regions. Seven percent of respondents in the West said they would trade their spouse for the ability to telecommute, while only 2 percent of respondents in the Midwest would do so.

 

I don't know what the figure is for the East Coast, which is where I live. This is coming to you from my loft office in our cozy apartment in Maine, so I already enjoy that perk. And for the record, my wife and I are celebrating our 38th wedding anniversary today. I wouldn't give her up for anything. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.

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