Hidden in Plain Sight

Banging his palm on the dashboard while waiting for the light to turn, Trevor said, “They did it again! Can you believe the nerve of these marketers?”

“Calm down,” his wife said. “What’s got your knickers in a twist now?”

“Look at those gas prices.”

“Yeah, so what? They’re going up. What’s new?”

“Tami, how much is the price of unleaded regular over there?”

“1.79 for regular, 1.99 for premium, and 2.29 for diesel. Why?”

“See? They’ve got you fooled too.”

“I’m serious, Trevor. We need to get you in to see Doc Wainwright. I really think he can help this time. A few more sessions might have done the trick.”

“Oh stop. Look again at those prices, Tam. One seventy-nine and nine-tenths. One ninety-nine and nine tenths. Two twenty-nine and nine-tenths.”

“So it’s nine-tenths of a penny more. What’s the big deal? It’s not enough to have a melt down over.”

“I can’t believe you’d say that. You buy a thousand gallons of gas in a year and that’s a hundred bucks more than you thought you were paying. If they’re doing that out in the open, what are they hiding?”

“First of all, Trev, your math’s off. It’s only 10 bucks for a thousand gallons, actually, only nine bucks. And secondly, I think I can absorb nine bucks over the course of a year for a thousand gallons of gas.”

“True,” Trevor said, “But you have to ask, ‘what else are they hiding in plain sight? Ten bucks here – er, nine bucks here – nine bucks there. Pretty soon it’s real money, right?”

Trevor looked over at his wife who was shaking her head and smiling.

“What, what? You wanted me to distract you from your toothache until we got to the dentist, didn’t you? We’re almost there now.”

*******