Prime times for stranger things?

December 25, 2011 2:14 PM

Prime times for other activities?

One of the footnotes in Nickeled and Dimed by Ehrenreich goes like this:

Another Merry Maids franchise
owner has learned to capitalize more directly on housework-related spats; he closes 30-35 percent of his sales by making follow-up calls Saturdays between 9:00 and 11:00 A.M. - which is "prime time for arguing over the fact that the house is a mess" ("Homes Harbor Dirty Secrets," Chicago Tribune, May 5, 1994).

So, are there any resources about prime-times for eccentric things happening?

posted by curuinor to society & culture (13 answers total)

"Most bagel mishaps occur on weekends, says Dale Birenbaum, M.D., academic director of Florida Emergency Physicians, based on Orlando, Fla. "We see a few bagel injuries every weekend," Dr. Birenbaum says. "You could almost imagine the scene on Sunday morning: They have the day off, they want their bagel and they're not as careful as they could be.""
posted by MonkeyToes at 2:26 PM on December 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

This might not quite be what you're looking for, but prime time for having babies is apparently 9 months after big snowstorms.
posted by ropeladder at 3:13 PM on December 25, 2011

Wal-Mart reports there are shopping spikes after midnight on the first of the month, as food stamp debit cards are refilled.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:57 PM on December 25, 2011

I thought there was a correlation between spouse abuse and the superbowl, but I guess not.
posted by vrakatar at 4:42 PM on December 25, 2011

Tuesday at 3pm is a good time for a meeting.
posted by milkrate at 5:14 PM on December 25, 2011

At the end of the month, the number of people who donate plasma goes WAY up. It drops substantially at the first of the month (when people receive assistance checks).
posted by kamikazegopher at 9:12 PM on December 25, 2011

This might not quite be what you're looking for, but prime time for having babies is apparently 9 months after big snowstorms.

If you read that article through you'll see that the correlation is a myth.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 12:04 PM on December 26, 2011

Pedestrians walking during the evening rush hour are nearly three times more likely to be struck and killed by cars in the weeks after the daylight savings time change in the fall.
posted by buzzv at 1:26 PM on December 26, 2011

Kind of related, but anecdotal: The most racially segregated hour in America is 11 am Sunday. IOW, churches are largely segregated institutions.
posted by LonnieK at 4:46 PM on December 26, 2011

Doesn't seem to be so strange when you think about it, but it has been legitimately documented: there is a substantial statistical increase in car accidents in the immediate hours after the Super Bowl.
posted by jeremias at 8:10 PM on December 26, 2011

If you're calling a US-based call center that keeps business hours Monday-Friday, the best time to do it is Thursday afternoon, once the east and central time zones have gone home. Monday morning is the worst. Friday is not as nice as you'd think as lots of people put off calling all week. In the brief time I worked in a call center, we'd all breathe a sigh of relief and surreptitiously pull out books to read at about 3pm on Thursday.
posted by troublesome at 9:14 PM on December 26, 2011

So, are there any resources about prime-times for eccentric things happening?

Some negative results after some exhaustive googling: it is extremely hard to get results on the days of week for purchasing alcohol and lottery tickets.

I did find one study that shows alcohol consumption at its highest on Friday and Saturday which made a reference to another study that shows days of week for purchasing alcohol but I can't that one.

The only really eccentric things about the alcohol consumption study is how they did it: taking samples down at the sewer plant for human-alcohol byproducts. They were able to get quantities and timing for a city of 500,000 people that way.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:11 AM on December 27, 2011

I've always heard:

The best time to buy a car is toward the end of the month, when the sellers and the dealership are all trying to make goals. (Hawaiian vacation, etc). Makes sense.

Tuesday is the day with lowest absenteeism in auto plants.

Thursday night is the best weeknight for restaurants in the South. (Maids' day off.)
posted by LonnieK at 7:31 PM on December 27, 2011