the great gas pump deception
When I pump gas, I watch the fee racking up as I stand there. I’ve noticed that no matter how high the price price per gallon is, the fee always seems to move at the same rate. I think the gas pump people have configured their machines to pump gas more slowly if the price goes up. I think they don’t want you to watch numbers flying by incredibly fast with a dollar sign next to them.
I’d start timing how long it takes to fill my car to prove my theory, but at the very least I’d look insane and at the worst they’ll think I’m planning some kind of terrorist act and I’ll wind up like that poor guy on the London tube.
August 2nd, 2005 at 11:14 am
I couldn’t agree more. When Ad and I were in the States last week (the first time in a year) I was really struck by how slow the pumps seem to be…much slower than they are here in France. I think that your theory may hold water!
August 3rd, 2005 at 1:37 am
I think it might be similar to the sizing for women’s clothing. I mean, as the years go by, my size seems to be dropping (body stays the same or even a bit ‘healthier’, I dare say). I think the idea is that if you can squeeze your big butt into a 4, you will buy it no matter what you look like in it. Banana Republic is the biggest offender, which pisses off my small friends, who try on something size 1 and it droops on them. That’s probably why they now have an extensive line of “petite” sizes, as opposed to the “Amazon-fatty” “regular” sizes.
And, has anyone noticed the lighting in Victoria’s Secret? I can barely see myself. (That’s the idea, I suppose). And what is happening when a 5′7 almost buck fifty girl fits comfortably into a size “S” pair of underwear?? Then what is a 5′ 100 pounder supposed to wear? (XS would probably be 5′3, 125). I am not a “sizable woman” by any means, but I am certainly not small, or a size 4 or even 6. Methinks “S” stands for “sucker”!
High-end jeans use the same sizing trick, although somehow they really DO seem to make your keester look smaller. (Or am I just imagining things??)
What happened to the “perfect size 10″? Have you even heard that muttered lately??
Truth be told, I just wish they would start doing the same thing with shoe sizes, ’cause my unsightly stanky Amazonian feet just seem to keep on growing and growing… Pretty soon they’ll be a “perfect size 10″.
August 4th, 2005 at 7:32 am
I figure if I keep coming up with theories, one of them is eventually going to be right.
Vera, I have heard some women say the sizes are artificially small on certain brands. But I never heard the saying “a perfect size 10″. I think you may be thinking of “a perfect 10″ which means on a scale of 1 - 10 you score a 10. Your comments are so funny, I score them a perfect 10!