File under ‘misanthropy’. Again
November 6th 2007 19:57. Updated: November 7th 2007 01:11
Apologies. My first post back after a wee break does not involve much input on my part. I usually reserve these kinds of items for the linklog. But there is a quote that I just have highlight here because it makes me want to run along the ceiling in sheer frustration at the human race.
(Emphasis mine.)
A LOTTERY scratchcard has been withdrawn from sale by Camelot - because players couldn’t understand it…
To qualify for a prize, users had to scratch away a window to reveal a temperature lower than the figure displayed on each card. As the game had a winter theme, the temperature was usually below freezing.
Tina Farrell, from Levenshulme, called Camelot after failing to win with several cards.
The 23-year-old, who said she had left school without a maths GCSE, said: “On one of my cards it said I had to find temperatures lower than -8. The numbers I uncovered were -6 and -7 so I thought I had won, and so did the woman in the shop. But when she scanned the card the machine said I hadn’t.
“I phoned Camelot and they fobbed me off with some story that -6 is higher - not lower - than -8 but I’m not having it.
“I think Camelot are giving people the wrong impression - the card doesn’t say to look for a colder or warmer temperature, it says to look for a higher or lower number. Six is a lower number than 8. Imagine how many people have been misled.”
HOLY SHIT! This is how bad standards of numeracy have become. Unbelievable.
Incidentally, my time off this blog was due to the fact that I was being educated. A certain Tina Farrell might have benefited from it more.
Update: Chris Applegate reminded me of a point that I was going to make here, but I forgot to write it before publishing.
It is the fact that this person just couldn’t resist blaming someone else for the problem. There is not the slightest hint of her taking any personal responsibility. Even worse is the fact that Camelot have actually caved in, which will vindicate this stance in her mind.
4 (Votes: 4)
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#1 Sarah
November 6th 2007 21:11
Wait, I don’t have any maths qualifications (my proudest non-achievement!) and yet I know why she’s wrong… does that make me a super genius?
#2 Pino
November 6th 2007 22:24
Madre del Amor Hermoso, Cristo me ampare! What really amaze me is that dear Tina from Levenshulme had the guts to give his name to the Manchester Evening News… or even worse… no, it can´t be true.
#3 Pinksy
November 7th 2007 10:00
It defies belief, it really does. Of course, I haven’t actually seen the scratchcards themselves - could the negative signs have been printed so that they weren’t clear? Nah, she’s an idiot and so are Camelot for taking that off the shelf.
#4 Toxic
November 7th 2007 11:33
Failed that, did she spell her name wrong on the form?
Probably has a B-Tech in Hollyoaks and four kids by five different fathers, yeah but no but.
Scratchcards - a tax on the retarded.
#5 Toxic
November 7th 2007 11:38
Just thinking it would be funny if she had scratched off -12, thought she’d lost and ripped up a few thousand quid, then been told later.
#6 doctorvee
November 7th 2007 15:46
Hahah.
Pinksy, I’m not sure she could claim it was about the negative signs not being printed clearly enough. She actually says that she thinks -8 is higher than -6.
#7 jack stephen
November 7th 2007 17:53
I agree she’s an idiot but as an aside it maybe wouldn’t have been a problem if we all (and Camelot) used a proper temperature scale (the Kelvin one.) She would have had to choose whether 267K (-6 Celsius) and 266K (-7 Celsius) were higher than 265K.
But maybe she would have thought these were both hot…..
#8 Antipholus Papps
November 9th 2007 13:49
…and so did the woman in the shop
This is the part that depresses me the most.