When I was younger, I was obsessed with a game called Roller Coaster Tycoon.
Specifically, Roller Coaster Tycoon 2.
As the name somewhat suggests, the game was about building your own theme park.
You could control a lot of elements in this game, with the exception of just a few things.
One of those things was the weather.
When it rained, you got to control the price of umbrellas that guests were forced to buy.
A strategic player would say, when it's raining, increase the price of umbrellas.
This post is an argument for why you shouldn't do that.
Last week I wrote a cautionary tale about furnaces and thermostats.
What I didn't share in that tale, was what we were told about weekend repairs when our furnace broke down.
Weekend—or any after-hours—repairs cost three times as much as regular repairs.
Let's explore for a minute what it takes to place a furnace service call on a weekend.
You're not going to place the call if the weather outside is comfortable, and you know you could survive without heat or cold for a few days.
You're not going to place the call if you performed the right YouTube search and found the fix yourself.
You're only going to place the call if you're desperate.
Put another way, when you do place that call, you're in a pretty vulnerable state.
You're caught in the pouring rain without an umbrella.
What would you do if a friend called you, or even showed up at your door in a vulnerable state?
I suspect that you would offer them comfort. Perhaps a healthy amount of it, especially if they are a particularly close friend.
You may even focus on their comfort, at the expense of your comfort.
It feels like the human thing to do, doesn't it?
So let's call the weekend repair surcharge what it is. Let's call the increased umbrella price in the rain what it is.
A vulnerability exploitation charge.
You're in a vulnerable state? Great, allow us to exploit that for you.
We can choose to respond differently.
We can choose to respond, as humans.
It's raining? Umbrellas go on sale for 50% off.
You're placing a furnace service call on a weekend? Our service charges are 50% less on weekends.
Let's move away from a world that exploits vulnerable states and toward one that rewards them instead.
