Answer - nothing. You're going to keep the fuel because you know the pushback will be all screwed up, you'll be number 12 for departure and there's gonna be 15 minutes in the hold that the plan doesn't allow for.
You make a very valid point. Two in fact.
Mental arithmetic is possibly the only useful skill that basic schooling gives a pilot. And. I've got two degrees, the best pilot I ever flew with left school at 15. If makes Jack.
When you're young you get a lot of messages that education is important and that school grades are key. Once you've reached middle age you realise that this is a crock of brown stuff. That's not to say encouraging children and youths to study hard by telling them that is important is a bad thing.. its just a white lie.
So don't hang yourselves up about grades and degrees. You are entering a profession whereby you're all licensed by the same authority and judged every six months by your peers. There is nowhere to hide. You're only as good as your last sim check and the good can become rubbish and the rubbish can become brilliant. That aspect of the job is a pressure but its actually quite satisfying. You are held to account twice a year under a microscope. Not many professions have that.
The saddest thing I ever experienced was someone I knew distantly who committed suicide because he mucked up his A Levels. It really didn't matter but to him, at that point in his life, it was life and death important.
Its important to be clever. Quick witted. Nice. Well read. Its important to have friends and have fun and be nice to your atrocious parents. Success at school is commendable but its small in comparison to the rest of your life.
By the time you're 30 ( I *know* you can't imagine that horror ) nobody will ever ask you what you studied or what you scored at school or university and you still have three decades of work ahead.
WWW
ps I had 4 A's 3 B's and a C at GCSE and 1 A, 2 B's at A-level but that was back in the early 1990's when exams were exams unlike now
