CST
Not the time zone.
I was playing along with some little promotion thing that Northwest Airlines had going on, trying to scrape up some more frequent flyer miles. I supposedly have won 1,000 bonus miles, but it'll take 8-10 weeks after the promotion ends to see it in my account.
But that's only because I'm a U.S. resident. My confirmation e-mail had this to say:
Canadian Residents: Your miles will be credited to your account 8-10 weeks after the receipt of your correctly answered Canadian Skills Test. The Skills Test is attached to this email. Please return it within the next ten (10) days. If you do not return the skills test within this timeframe, another winner will be selected.
If you think that sounds a little strange, take a look at the test.
Skill-testing question
STEP 1. Multiply 125 by 400.
STEP 2. Add 1,460 to the answer form Step 1.
STEP 3. Divide the answer from Step 2 by 20.
STEP 4. Subtract 1,573 from the answer to Step 3.
Um, what?! What the fuck does that have to do with anything? (The answer is 1,000, by the way).
This confirmation email arrived promptly upon my completing whatever stupid clickaround was required, albeit from that third party, so I figured it was authentic. But this Canadian Skills Test thing is ridiculous. This has to be some kind of joke. Not really funny, though.
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Oh, no, it is quite real. Canadian law does indeed require the skills test to be administered to contest winners before a prize may be awarded. I've never been sure of what the exact rationale for this law might be, but it's for real.
So what exactly is this skills test in charge of? Is there a reason for it?
I've seen this kind of thing before. Apparently, you can't just win a sweepstakes by luck alone in Canada--you have to earn your prize. This is the first actual skills test I've seen, but I've often spotted notes like "Canadian residents must complete a simple mathematical problem to claim their prize" in the fine print.
Huh. Well how about that.
I used to feel sorry for everyone in Vermont, too, 'cause it seemed like there wasn't a single sweepstakes open to residents of Vermont. :(