- Gas discount card promised 4 cents off per litre, but if you actually check the math there may be no discount.
- ‘Trusting the machine’ is a metaphor for so many aspects this broken system where people have outsourced their own mental competency.
I went to get a car ‘wand wash’ this morning. If you live in Edmonton these indoor car wand washes are like a poor man’s vacation to Mexico. They are heated with massive heat lamps and full of steamy humidity. Seriously, it’s great, like 20 minutes in the Bahamas and only costs you five bucks.
I noticed they had a ‘special gas discount’ so I asked about that. I was given a gas discount card; 4 cents off per litre they claimed. Eureka!
I went to fill the tank, inserted the discount card as prompted, then the payment card as prompted, and selected 50 dollars. The gas stopped pumping at 50 dollars and out of curiosity I wondered how many litres that was. 32.8 litres.
As the regular cost of gas was 1.53 per litre technically this discount card should make it 1.49 per litre. We did the math. 50/32.8 equals… you guessed it. 1.53 per litre. (Well technically 1.52 ½ cents per litre.)
So, I went into the store and returned the card. “Say I’ll give you back your card as there is no discount.” They could not accept this.
“Let’s do the math”, I said. “50 dollars, (what I spent) divided by 32.8 litres (the amount of fuel I took) leads to 1.53 per litre, same as the advertised regular price. No discount.”
“No no no “, they said, “The way it works is that you pay the same money, BUT, it gives you MORE GAS!. That’s how it works. You don’t see it but it’s giving you more for the same price!”
“Really”, I said. “Let’s look at the receipt.”
“How much did I pay? 50 dollars. So, we agree I spent 50 dollars. Yes, good. How many litres did I take, according to the receipt? 32.8 Good. So, we agree, I took 32.8 litres of fuel and paid 50 dollars. Yes. Good. We agree.”
“So, divide 32.8 into 50 and you get 1.53 per litre, regular price. No 4-cent discount. Have a nice day.”
The staff were shocked, dumfounded, and a little annoyed.
I take it nobody actually checks their bills anymore and simply takes it as gospel?
They’ve probably had this promotion going for several months, hundreds of drivers who never bothered to do the math thinking they are getting this great savings every time.
No, it’s all pretend. It’s pretend savings with a magic pretend discount card.
Somewhere in here is a metaphor for the systemic global mess we find ourselves in. Magic pretend PCR tests, magic pretend vaccines that ‘stop transmission’.
A pretend climate crisis with magic carbon taxes that magically fixes the world with magic green energy, and of course magic election victory machines. Nobody actually does the math for themselves.
