Checking if a variable is not nil and not zero in ruby

Question

I am using the following code to check if a variable is not nil and not zero

if(discount != nil && discount != 0) 
  ...
end

Is the

Answer 1

class Object
  def nil_zero?
    self.nil? || self == 0
  end
end

# which lets you do
nil.nil_zero? # returns true
0.nil_zero?   # returns true
1.nil_zero?   # returns false
"a".nil_zero? # returns false

unless discount.nil_zero?
  # do stuff...
end

Beware of the usual disclaimers... great power/responsibility, monkey patching leading to the dark side etc.