Degrees Of Expectation

This was prompted by this story:

When I was working at a bank, some colleagues said to my girlfriend and me that they would like to talk to us about a money-making opportunity at home. We reluctantly agreed, but only on the proviso that it wasn’t multi-level marketing. 

Well, it soon became clear on the day that it was indeed multi-level marketing. We weren’t pleased.

After having pointed out to them that the same shirts they were selling were available in [well-known department store] for half their price, the vitamins were really no different from other vitamin brands, and so on, they came to demonstrate the superiority of their bleach.

They tried to compare it to another bleach, but I pointed out:

Me: “That thing is a ‘bleach brightener’, not a bleach.”

Colleague: “It’s the same thing.”

Me: “No, brightener is a noun adjunct. It’s no more the same thing as a car wash is the same as a car, or a door lock is the same as a door. Look at the ingredients, there’s not a thing in there that’s an oxidiser, it’s a digester. You can’t compare them.”

This is where the other story comes in. I don’t normally talk about my degrees, but this guy, annoyed, said:

Colleague: “Oh, and I suppose you have a degree in chemistry from Sydney University?”

I went into the office, took it down off the wall, came back, and said:

Me: “Yes, here it is!”