Barbara J. Hamby

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Numbers Games

I think I’ve written before about the trend today to decrease the contents of packages without noticeably changing their size. Sometimes the prices go up; sometime they don’t. I was surprised recently to buy a rectangular carton of ice cream that contained an actual half-gallon, as many formerly did. Most such containers, as well as the cylindrical ones, now contain one and a half quarts. That information will be found, usually, in an unobtrusive location on the packages.

A box of teabags I purchased recently contained 23 bags. I thought that was odd, but decided the tea company probably formerly packed 24 in a box and thought no one would notice if they reduced the number.

I’m often intrigued by questionnaires that turn up on the internet with titles such as, “Learn Your Actual Age vs. Your Chronological Age.” I’ve probably checked out two of those in the last year. The first was very encouraging, assigning an age five or six years younger than I am now. The second, with a different set of questions, placed me two and a half years older. So, I can flip a coin or take an average between the two numbers and run with the result. Or I can ignore the whole stupid thing. I choose the latter. What a waste of whatever precious time I have left.