Being Poor Sure Ain’t A Gas

Many years ago, I am working in a gas provider company’s call center. One day, my coworker receives a strange complaint from an old woman. 

In Hungary, there are still some heating devices that look like radiators, but they actually run directly on gas, so there’s no water or whatever in the system. They are ugly-looking and box-shaped.

Coworker: “Hello, [Gas Provider], how can I help you?”

Old Lady: “Hi there. I have called because I suspect that the quality of the gas has declined. Am I correct?”

Coworker: “Unfortunately, yes. We’re getting lesser quality gas from abroad. It should get better within a week.”

Old Lady: “Oh. All right, then.”

Coworker: “May I ask how you realized this?”

Old Lady: “To save money, I usually cook on the ‘gas radiator’ instead of the stove. And [dish], which I can usually make in an hour or an hour and a half, took more than two hours.”

Coworker: “Well, okay. Thank you for your call.”

When we heard the story during our break, all of our hearts went out to the poor old lady using the heating for cooking, too, just to be able to save some money. The dish she was talking about is one you can make on a stove in twenty minutes.