Con game
"I already knew my niece was smart," writes Rachel Sweeny. "But something she did at the weekend pushed her into extreme intelligence for a 5-year-old. We'd had a fun day playing when it was time for her to go home. She asked all of us (around ten adults) to play one last game, a colouring competition. Dealing out a sticker to sweeten the deal, we thought it was a ploy to get an extra ten minutes of play. We learned the rules of the competition: We each had to draw a shape and write at the top of the page what it was, she would then judge the winner. So we all participated, drawing triangles, rhombus, hearts, etc. Then handed them to her. She collects them all up, but instead of judging them, neatly folds them, places them in an envelope, writes her name and 'shapes' on the front and yells, 'Homework done!' while running out the door." (Source: Quora.com)
Payment discount or marketing fiction
A Westmere reader wonders why utilities bills are unique in including what is called a prompt payment discount, but is actually a discount for paying on time. "My latest bill of $65.09 includes a prompt payment discount of $18.37. So presumably the original bill was $83.46," he writes. "This suggests either that their accounting procedures are extremely inefficient - we're not at the debt-collector stage, just the due date, and sending another bill isn't likely to cost them $20 - or the $83.46 bill is a marketing fiction. My dentist and mechanic don't knock off 15 per cent if I pay on the spot. The rates bill has a small discount if I pay the whole year in advance. But why do just power and gas retailers have this practice?"
