Making change ..

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djohns6

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So last Saturday my wife and I went to watch grandson play football . It was in a small town nearby and after the game we were hungry . Not a lot of options , so we hit the McDonalds drive thru . My total was $16.51 so I gave the girl a $20 bill and a penny . She pecked around on her machine for a minute and then I heard her explaining the situation to somebody over her headset . Seriously ? Was it that complicated that she needed help ?
 
Making change

Yes, I have seen the same thing recently. The bill is $8.09. Give the person
$10.25 and it is total confusion. Willyboy
 
My wife and I had supper at the Cracker Barrel and our bill was $20.86 and I told the young lady at the cashier to just round it up to $25 including tip.
Unfortunately, she couldn't do simple math even with a calculator. I finally told her 4 dollars and 14 cents. She looked at me and said, "33?" I asked "33 what?" She replied, "33 cents?" I hung my head in disbelief and my wife told her again, "4 dollars and 14 cents."
As all this was going on, a line was forming behind us of people waiting to pay their bill.
 
Back in the day when money was tight when I went grocery shopping I could be within a buck or so at the cashier. Mostly just by rounding up and down on the prices. Produce was a small issue. Math is becoming a lost art. But what disturbs me is that most people not only can't do any math what so ever in their head, Many of them, can't do manage the most basic problems even with a calculator. Ask a HS grad what the hypotenuse of a right triangle is if one side is 3 and the other 4. Or I have 12 apples, Joe takes 1/2 of them and Bob takes 1/2 of what is left. How many do I have then.
 
Very sad for the future of the country.
 
I was terrible at math in school, but I had no problem with math where money was concerned. I have no problem doing all the math in my head, no calculator needed. These days it seems most people are lost without their phone/computer/calculator.

If you want to see people make change go to an Amish market. A little kid, maybe 10 years old, will add up the prices of a dozen items, figure the tax, and quickly give you the correct change. All by figuring the numbers in their head. Not bad for a one room school education.
 
No arithmetic in the head

The comments in this thread are universally true in USA. I have simply started using plastic for virtually every purchase. It reduces wear and tear on all concerned. I handle all bill paying and we both watch for wrong charges(very rare). My wife likes to have $200 to 300 in her purse at all times just because. We both came from families with just enough money to get by.

Using credit cards became much more useful re COVID-19 since neither party had to touch anything handled by the other.

BTW no servers or cashiers mind getting dirty money as tips.
 
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Yes, it is that complicated. They often do not teach kids to do any math in their heads, they have calculators - who needs a brain. You were also likely the only person using cash that the poor kid had seen.
 
One up on that. When our son was in 9th grade he brought home a graded math homework. He was proud of it with a grade of 98%. I looked at it for the error he made, but could not find it. Asking him he said that she took off 2 points because he showed his work. She said they did not care how he got the answer, only that the answer was right. That was about 18 years ago. It appears that it is no better today. Without a calculator they are lost.
 
31FordA said:
If you want to see people make change go to an Amish market. A little kid, maybe 10 years old, will add up the prices of a dozen items, figure the tax, and quickly give you the correct change. All by figuring the numbers in their head. Not bad for a one room school education.
Click to expand...

Go to the Amish market 17 miles down the road from here and they will be using an electronic till and your card is as welcome as cash. Now go to the one near my brother's place and it will be cash and math. What is acceptable in each community is decided on by the elders of that community. BTW Lots of Amish kids have cell phones, lots of Amish parents don't know. LOL
 
I have seen so many cases that a lack of math skills no longer surprise me.

Interesting Example that shows an employer's knowledge of the problem with applicants.

I happened to find Job Application for a (not to be named) fast food vendor. It contained thirty (IIRC) questions, and had the Multiple Guess answers provided. Several questions involved - Cost of the customer's order - Amount of cash received (most included some coins/change) - How much to return to customer (number of dollars, and coin denominations and number).

This impressed me because the employer was obviously aware of "math skills problems" and was making an effort to select from the more skilled applicants.

Bekeart
 
snubbyfan said:
My wife and I had supper at the Cracker Barrel and our bill was $20.86 and I told the young lady at the cashier to just round it up to $25 including tip.
Unfortunately, she couldn't do simple math even with a calculator. I finally told her 4 dollars and 14 cents. She looked at me and said, "33?" I asked "33 what?" She replied, "33 cents?" I hung my head in disbelief and my wife told her again, "4 dollars and 14 cents."
As all this was going on, a line was forming behind us of people waiting to pay their bill.
Click to expand...

That is why we leave the tip on the table.

It works out better at the end, when leaving.
 
If I remember correctly everyone in my class in first or second grade learned to make change as part of the arithmatic class. I never had any kids so I don't have first hand knowledge of what goes on in schools now. When did this practice stop?
 
So many stories here so I'll add one of my many: Bill comes to $15.50 and I give the young lady a 20 and 2 quarters. Deer in the headlights look and out comes the calculator. She still couldn't figure it out so I told her just to give me a 5 back. She did but I'm sure she had no idea why and if that was right or not.
 
Golddollar said:
....... I don't have first hand knowledge of what goes on in schools now. When did this practice stop?
Click to expand...

I have never taught it but my 15 year teaching career is High School. I guess I'm on the other end now. Today I went on my 1st "unsupervised" trip to the WallyNeighborhood store in 54 days. Threw the 02 tank in in the cart. Huffing and puffing to the self-checkout, I hurry and tally up the $56.58. Reach in my pocket and there's a quarter, 3 dimes and 3 pennies. "Jackpot" I'm thinking from cabin fever so I start the insert. You gotta wait until each coin is counted before putting in the next. Boy did this perturb the next guy. A few errors: 1) avoid the old codger sucking air through a pipe, it'll be awhile. 2) it's middle of the day, I got an excuse for not working. 3) old codger logic says "I win" if anything matches up in the course of the day. Adjust accordingly. Joe
 
I volunteered to tutor math in a local high school and was that an experience! The math being taught was done by a computer "self-learning" class. The course was designed so they one couldn't progress to the next problem till the correct answer was entered for the current problem being worked on. The students quickly learned that if you made two attempts at the problem and got the wrong answer, third attempt would give you the correct answer and you could progress. Lessons were completed (not learned) in record time.

Since problem solving skills were not being taught in school, I would teach how to solve math problems. When the students are given a math problem, the first thing they do is to grab the calculator. I told the student they would have a broken hand if grab a calculator before reading and analyzing the problem. Many problems could be reduced to simple parts and solved. Also, once the numbers which came from a calculator, when used, were they right? Estimating what the answer should be would be a good check to see if the number from the calculator was correct.

The current math teachers don't have the slightest idea of how to teach math as they were brought up with the computer teaching method. Problem solving and estimation skills are not even addressed. Is it any wonder why the current generation are math idiots!
 
I deal with numbers and the public everyday. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard “…you totaled those numbers in your head faster than I could on a calculator…”

It is what I was taught and more importantly, what was expected of me by my parents.

Kevin
 
My wife hates it whenever I do one of those things where I give the cashier a few coins or something so I won't get more coins back. She just rolls her eyes when they struggle to figure out how to give me the correct amount back, knowing they'll probably screw it up and have to call someone for help. I love it!
 
I actually had a kid count back change to me the other day, the way it's supposed to be done. Total was $12.38, first comes the 2c,40, a dime,50, 2 quarters, 75 & 13 bucks, 2 1's, 14 and 15, and a 5 makes 20. I should have asked him who taught him that, can't even remember the last time I received change back in this manner.
 
If in a hurry i use the CC because i cant wait for the cashier to figure out what the correct change is. esp. if there under 20.
Rob
 
I wonder if those of you deriding the ability of younger folks to make change do your own computer maintenance or do you call your granddaughter? I can count change like a bandit but today I deleted 40 hours of research notes because I didn't know deleting a draft email doesn't put it in the trash file, it goes away and cannot be retrieved. My grandson wouldn't make that mistake. He probably can't count change or write in cursive. That doesn't mean he's stupid or poorly educated.

Necessary skills for getting by in society change with the times.
 
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GUNMIKE said:
One up on that. When our son was in 9th grade he brought home a graded math homework. He was proud of it with a grade of 98%. I looked at it for the error he made, but could not find it. Asking him he said that she took off 2 points because he showed his work. She said they did not care how he got the answer, only that the answer was right. That was about 18 years ago. It appears that it is no better today. Without a calculator they are lost.
Click to expand...

Many years ago when I was in the 10th grade, the math course was particular hard. I was in an advanced college entrance course at the time. I was realllyyy good at math.

Whenever there was an exam, the teacher would ad an extra question worth 25 points. Many of the kids needed the extra question to even pass the exam.

I got 125% every single exam. When the regents exam came at the end of the year I got 100%.

At the end of the year, my final grade was 95. Boy was I pissed. I quizzed the teacher and all I got was blah blah blah. That sure took away any incentive I might have had.
 
Inusuit said:
I wonder if those of you deriding the ability of younger folks to make change do your own computer maintenance or do you call your granddaughter? I had count change like a bandit but today I deleted 40 hours of research notes because I didn't know deleting a draft email doesn't put it in the trash file, it goes away and cannot be retrieved. My grandson wouldn't make that mistake. He probably can't count change or
write in cursive. That doesn't mean he's stupid or poorly educated.

Necessary skills for getting by in society change with the times.
Click to expand...

I was writing computer code before my kids were even born. I taught them computers, not the other way around.

My wife is a teacher. My kids learned **** in school, but they got the real stuff at home. When the school system dumbs down, its up to the parents to guide the way.

Kids that can't count change are NOT stupid, but there is no question that they ARE poorly educated.

Counting change may be a moot point. Its the other life skills that are sadly missed. Kids are not even taught how to walk down the street. That's why a teenager was killed by a car on my very street.
 
A 17 year old drug dealer can convert grams to ounces in his head, and make change.

I haven’t paid cash for anything but guns in at least a decade.
 
sigp220.45 said:
A 17 year old drug dealer can convert grams to ounces in his head, and make change.

I haven’t paid cash for anything but guns in at least a decade.
Click to expand...

That is a true statement. If you created a math problem using that situation most would get it.
 
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