Sunday, June 05, 2005

They're making my brain hurt, again...

Okay, you've got to understand; I DO NOT go looking for this stuff. The world really IS full of stupid people...!

Case in point:

The most common local grocery chain is called "Market Basket" (alternatively called "Waste Basket" by some ungenerous souls). They're not really that good, but they're just everywhere; as my Dad would say about something, "They're like shit in a barnyard - they're all over the place". In short, they're pretty generally crap, but they're what we have.

Be that as it may; either they count on the stupidity/mental laziness of their customers to convince themselves that they're getting a bargain when they're not, or they are none too bright, themselves; I'm not sure which.

Let's look at one item (I'm not going to mention which one, because I LIKE the price that I pay, and if it's subsidized by stupid people, then that's the penalty that THEY pay for not paying attenbtion in school!): Packaged singly, you an buy 2 for $1.00. Buying them pre-wrapped as a 2-pack, you pay $1.20. And a pre-wrapped 6-pack is $4.50.

Let's look at that again: a 6-pack costs $4.50. buying three 2-packs, gets you six for $3.60. Buying six individual pieces costs $3.00. And I constantly see people in the checkout lines with multiple 6-packs!

Or how about this - A large can of chicken broth:

Soupcan-01

Let's look at that price sticker a little more closely, shall we...?

Soupcan-02

"5 for $5.00"... Hmmm... doesn't that work out to... ummm... $1.00 each?!!?

Can't they just SAY $1.00?!!? Or are they assuming that, if they see a "5-fer", the customers will: A - assume that they're getting a bargain, and; B - buy five cans at a time, in order to get the special price?

Are people REALLY that stupid?

Yes... I expect that I know the answer, too... *sigh*
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Walking the dog the other morning, I passed this pickup truck and was, I suppose, reassured that my town had no monopoly on stupid people:

Truck-01

(You may not be able to read it, but the license pltate says "Live Free or Die" at the top, so this was apparently owned by a visitor from our friends to the north.)

Looking closer at the hood, we see:

Truck-02

Now this vehicle's owner, apparently believes in security since, besides the slide-bolts on either side of the hood, you can see that there's a padlock. The assumption in my household is that the truck no longer has an ignition switch, and one simply opens the hood andjump-starts it every time.

But let's look just a WEE bit closer at that lock mechanism:

Truck-03

Note that, rather than... oh, say... putting the NUTS inside the hood and grinding down the slot or corners of the bolt-heads (whichever) to foil thieves, the HEADS are well hidden and the NUTS are available to anyone with an adjustable wrench and 30 seconds to kill!

Sometimes I despair...