The point isn’t about the MATH; it’s about how the story problems are outdated, and the teachers’ expectations of what is “normal” are also outdated from the kids’ perspective. Yesterday’s comic – cheap socks always come in 3-packs – and today’s – two pair of socks is probably some kind of discount deal – are about the pervasiveness of advertising and discount-or-surge-pricing and “Bonus FREE!” (rather than "Package Includes … "), and how it affects people’s assumptions about whether you can plan or calculate anything. Mallett is discussing a profound societal trend, just like Stephen Colbert “demanding” cheap tube socks (as an opening to mention they’re made with child slave labor).
The point isn’t about the MATH; it’s about how the story problems are outdated, and the teachers’ expectations of what is “normal” are also outdated from the kids’ perspective. Yesterday’s comic – cheap socks always come in 3-packs – and today’s – two pair of socks is probably some kind of discount deal – are about the pervasiveness of advertising and discount-or-surge-pricing and “Bonus FREE!” (rather than "Package Includes … "), and how it affects people’s assumptions about whether you can plan or calculate anything. Mallett is discussing a profound societal trend, just like Stephen Colbert “demanding” cheap tube socks (as an opening to mention they’re made with child slave labor).