Hum

[telophase]

Went out for lunch today. It cost $8.23. I gave the cashier $10, then said "Oh, wait, I have the $.23," and gave it to her. She'd already rang the $10 in, and then had to call someone over to ask how much change to give me. I feel quite sorry for her - is she just confused by registers? innumerate? learning disability? or just not willing or able to go that one extra step in figuring something out?

Comments

[grendelity.livejournal.com]

To be fair, I had a lot of trouble with counting back change for a long time, and while I wouldn't call myself innumerate, I'm also very much Not A Math Person. XD; I don't think I was ever that bad, but there's a certain mental block in disregarding what the register has told you.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I was confused with complicated change for a short time, but then picked it up very quickly as I was working at a restaurant on the drive-through window, where we had to complete the order and cash it out before they got around to the window to pick it up, so I *had* to learn to make change from whatever wacky combo of money I was given. OTOH, I also pick stuff up like that very quickly and I know a lot of people don't. (I was able to do it so well that for a while after I quit the job, I was calculate the exact amount of change to give a cashier that would ensure I'd get it all back in quarters that I could use for laundry. I'd get really strange looks when I gave them an odd amount of change for the bill. :D)

[ninjoo.livejournal.com]

When I just started working as a cashier the counting back was a bit getting used to, but if you do it often enough (or have good enough math skills :) ) it's a piece of cake.
But this example... let's just hope she's a freshman when it comes to handling the register. Or very very bad at math. Or just very very dumb. :)

[elfiepike.livejournal.com]

one of my friends (who is a college english teacher and very smart in many ways) that i worked with for yeeeears was never able to mentally adjust the change when it was already rung up in the register, and the few times she tried she always realized halfway through that she was doing it wrong, so... some people just can't do it. XD

[tprjones.livejournal.com]

I am so dissappointed in all of you.

Next you'll tell me you didn't do well in grammer school Latin classes, either.

Whatever happened to quality education?

[chomiji]

Worked one summer in a busy sandwich shop with an old-fashioned cash register that thought its job was done once it had calculated and added in the tax. Yes, I can do all these things involving change - despite the fact that I consider myself bad at math. (It's just calculation - it's not like, mathematics.) But I've seen a number of cashiers get confused by the kind of scenario you describe.

[viridian5.livejournal.com]

A lot of cashiers these days don't seem to understand addition or subtraction. Or paper and coin money for that matter.

In the early 90s I worked in an old Roy Rogers where all the cashiers had to calculate change themselves, even on the drive-through window where you'd have several orders waiting to be paid. The registers were that old and decrepit. As a result to this day I often give money to cashiers that would be easier for them to give me change from if only they understood math or money.

...god, I feel old.

[isancho.livejournal.com]

Lots of people have a mental block about math. Others simply don't know the best way to think about things like this.

The "right" way is to say, "I've been given 10.23. The bill was 8.23. What do I give her back in return."

The way lots of people think about these things is, "OMG, the register says to give back 1.77, but she just added 23 cents to what she gave me!! WhatdoIdo?!?"

It probably doesn't help that manipulating the amounts given and received is a common scammer tactic.