things i don't understand: part 1

i am going to attempt to make this segment a regular occurrence. to start things off on the right foot, as i was leaving captain d's tonight (gross, i know, and it brings up an even bigger existential question of what i was doing at captain d's in the first place), i came up with the very unoriginal idea of starting a weekly, or at least "regular", section entitled "things i don't understand." this list is near endless, thereby bringing me comfort in the fact that there will always be something to write about.

part 1 deals with different companies willingly and openly taking advantage of their customers. case in point, tonight while picking up dinner for my family i noticed that captain d's offers an order of mozzarella cheese sticks for $2.99. they also offer a half order for $.99. i've noticed this before, but put it out of my mind because i was sure that the full order must be 10 sticks or something, while a half order (yes, i am aware that half should mean half, but i was giving the company the benefit of the doubt that they wouldn't intentionally mislead their customers in pricing, but maybe unintentionally with poor math skills) would constitute 4 sticks. well, when it came time for me to order i politely inquired as to the quantity of a full order. i was told there are 8 sticks in a full order. i then asked, politely once again, how many are in a half order. do not be concerned, the kind soul taking my order was not insulted by my somewhat condescending inquiry. she told me that there are 4 sticks in a half order. i was shocked. i mean, really? for 99 cents i can buy 4 sticks, triple my order, making it a heart clogging 12 sticks, and still pay 2 whole cents less then an "order" of 8 sticks. insanity. i know this is nothing new and that they do this because they are greedy profit maximizers. i wasn't born yesterday. it just strikes me as insulting when a company would try to get one by their customers that requires nearly no math skills and is blatantly obvious on the menu. i may have come off as condescending in my inquiry, yet this company's menu is an insult on the intelligence of its patrons. so here is the first thing i don't understand: why companies seek to take advantage and openly insult the intelligence of the people whom finance their companies. and while we're at it, i don't understand what i was doing at a captain d's in the first place. we all make poor decisions every now and then.

update: my good friend pointed out that maybe these companies aren't exactly preying upon our "stupidity", but perhaps are only capitalizing on our failure to pay attention. i concede this is probably at work. just as it is at work when we sign up for things on-line and the box is already checked, or unchecked, or needs to be checked, or whatever may be the case. i also concede that it might be a ploy by the company in question to "reward" customers for their math skills, making them feel intelligent for noticing the pricing game at hand, thus encouraging to "take advantage" of this seemingly obvious pricing gaffe and order 8 sticks for less than the price of 8 sticks (thus making a sale where there might not have been one otherwise). i realize i am likely reading too much into this altogether, however, in my ignorance i feel slighted by captain d's and will avoid it.