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This weeks question for Captain Dramatic is brought to us by E at Two Angry Brits. E sent his question along with a link to a story. He wanted to know if Captain Dramatic was receiving a better education than the lady in this story. Here's the text of the story.

Camelot pulls scratchcard amid numerical anarchy
By Lester Haines
Published Thursday 8th November 2007 12:49 GMT

Camelot has withdrawn its short-lived "Cool Cash" scratchcard after it required a higher than absolute zero grasp of how numbers work to understand it.

According to the Manchester Evening News, to qualify for a prize, punters had to "scratch away a window to reveal a temperature lower than the figure displayed on each card". Sadly, as the card had a decidedly wintery theme, this initially-shown figure was often below zero.

Cue anarchy, as Camelot was beseiged by "dozens" of confused customers who thought they'd won, but suffered a "computer says no" snub.

Among these was Levenshulme's Tina Farrel, a 23-year-old who admitted "she had left school without a maths GCSE". She explained: "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."

A Camelot spokeswoman said: "The instructions for playing the Cool Cash scratchcard are clear - and are printed on each individual card and in the game procedures available at each retailer. However, because of the potential for player confusion we have decided to withdraw the game."

The Manchester Evening News concludes: "More than 15 million adults in Britain have poor numeracy - the equivalent of a G or below at GCSE maths."

So, that brings us to the question for Captain Dramatic.

Me: CD, which number is lower? -6 or -8?
CD: *with a look that could be translated to "Oh please! I am not that stupid!"* -8 is lower.
Me: Why?
CD: After zero you count backwards.
Me: But 8 is higher than 6.
CD: It's negative 8 and 6! Not positive!

There is the answer. CD is smarter than at least one 23 year old living in England, and according to the article, dozens of adults living in England. I would guess that it is safe to assume that CD is getting a better education in the third grade than this poor woman received in her 23 years of life. Pray for her, and other people's children in general. They need any and all help they can get.

Thank you E. You have made me laugh with this story, and reminded me that things could be much worse.

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