If Airlines Sold Paint
This is an amusing story I thought you might enjoy. On Wednesday of this week for one day, I bought a flight for $65 that ususally costs $134. It is wonderful when one can grab a deal like that but frustrating all of the rest of the time. We are so used to it, we don’t even blink but look at it through renewed eyes. What if it was paint?
If you were to buy paint from your local harware store the conversation might go something like this:
Customer: “Hi, how much is your paint?”
Clerk: “We have regular quality for $23 a gallon and premium for $32. How many gallons would you like?”
Customer: “Five gallons of regular quality, please.”
Clerk: “Great! That will be $115 plus tax.”
However, if airlines were in the business of selling paint the conversation would go like this:
Customer: “Hi, how much is your paint?”
Clerk: “Well, sir, that all depends.”
Customer: “Depends on what?”
Clerk: “Actually, a lot of things.”
Customer: “How about giving me an average price?”
Clerk: “Wow, that’s too hard a question. The lowest price is $9 a gallon and we have 150 different prices up to $200 a gallon.”
Customer: “What’s the difference in the paint?”
Clerk: “Oh, there isn’t any difference, it’s all the same paint.”
Customer: “Well, then, I’d like some of that $9 paint.”
Clerk: “Well, first I need to ask you a few
questions. When do you intend to use it?”
Customer: “I want to paint tomorrow, on my day off.”
Clerk: “Sir, the paint for tomorrow is the $200 paint.”
Customer: “What? When would I have to paint in order to get $9 paint?”
Clerk: “That would be in three weeks, but you will also have to agree to start painting before Friday of that week and continue painting until at least Sunday.”
Customer: “You’ve got to be kidding!”
Clerk: “Sir, we don’t kid around here. Of course, I’ll have to check to see if you are elegible to buy paint.”
Customer: “What, all I want to do is buy some paint!”
Clerk: “Sir, there is no point in getting upset; that is just the way it is. By the way the price just went up to $12.
Customer: “This is crazy! I will just go somewhere else to buy paint.”
Clerk: “That won’t do you any good, sir. The other paint stores have the same policies. You might as well just buy it here while the price is $17.50.
Thank you for flying – I mean painting – with our airline!
Dream Along Travel Dreaming 