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Math 101  

secret_lade 49F
14127 posts
11/17/2020 5:05 pm
Math 101


I'm concerned folks....

I'm concerned that this next generation that is coming up in the world cannot do basic math.

And.... I'm talking basic.

One of my new hires from Monday's orientation class was doing her computer based learning today and she came to me for help.

"Can you help me? I'm afraid I won't pass the test. I'm just not good at making change."

Um, ok.... Making change, I get it, can be kind of tricky.

"Ok, I'm not familiar with that training, but I'm sure I can work my way through it."

I headed into the computer center expecting to see some elaborate story problem that would require a little mental acuity on my part. Fractions.... Carrying.... Rounding up....

Instead I see....

The total purchase comes to $14.75 and the customer hands you a $20. You accidentally tender the sale for $200. How much change should the customer receive?

Before the computer is a sheet of paper with a series of failed attempts to solve this math problem.

None of the answers correct.

Like a deer caught in the headlights, she stared at me expecting me to figure out this problem for her.

"Ok, so, the purchase comes to $14.75. Add a quarter and we are at $15. Add a $5 and we are at $20. So, the total amount due to the customer is $5.25."

"What about the $200. What happens to that?"

"There is no $200, that was an error. Remember? We are only making change for the amount the customer gave us."

"How do you know what to subtract?"

"You should be subtracting the cost of the purchase from the total amount the customer gave you."

"$200"

Remind me to always go through her line when I'm checking out!

Happy Tuesday!

newbieinco 61M  
18 posts
11/28/2020 9:49 pm

Yep, the education of math sucks, because that requires critical thinking (i.e. something is right, anything else is wrong).
Actually I noticed it when I was in high school back in the 70's (in California - I think we were ahead of the dumbing down curve even then!). I personally don't think calculators should be allowed in any math class before college. If the math on a problem is really too hard, the editor screwed up.
Yes, I am an engineer, and numbers are fun for me, but that kind of screwup shouldn't have graduated 3rd grade!


tickles4us 62M
7262 posts
11/19/2020 8:03 pm

Could I get her work schedule please....?

Vive La Difference


WyoCowboy7751 70M
2537 posts
11/19/2020 3:47 am

Massass1963
" We skip over arithmetic, spelling, and grammar to provide high-tech training and computer training. Many of these should be reserved for college, not high school."
My 7 yr. old Grandson uses a School Issued Laptop in the Second Grade !!!


pagancountrygirl 66F
6466 posts
11/18/2020 5:04 pm

I have a good friend who used to have a donut shop/convenience store and every person she hired was required to learn to count change back....without the use of a cash register or calculator. It was something she insisted on them knowing. If they couldn't do it...or learn to do it...they didn't work there. It drove the point home a few times when the power would go off during a storm and they could still make sales....and count change back to the customers.

Pagan
Hmmmm....I know I left that wand around here somewhere!


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
11/18/2020 3:11 pm

    Quoting citizen4722:
    Blimey! And I thought my math(s) was bad
Do you still use an abacus?? LOL


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
11/18/2020 3:10 pm

    Quoting  :

Math 101 is the beginning math class in college... The easiest.


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
11/18/2020 3:09 pm

    Quoting bbuckwwheat:
    I think that we were taught how to count back change in school, but then, I graduated high school shorty after you were born. The only people that count back change for me are generally over 40.

    Financial awareness and budgeting is being taught in some high schools. Mostly it is learned at home. And if home is struggling, then the children probably will as well. Many can find a solution, but generally not on the first time unless someone else has shown them and the seed sprouts when it counts.
True story.... Some of the budgeting / financial stuff I learned in home ec. Some of it in government class. The problem is, both of those classes are not a requirement for graduation any more. When I was in college, I took a business math class that covered a lot of it, but there are a bunch of kids that never get that college education.


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
11/18/2020 3:05 pm

    Quoting TicklePlease:
    Practical math is a skill that is slowly disappearing... I'm one of those people who uses a lot of quarters in my day to day life. When I do pay with cash, I tend to pay for things in a way that gives me a quarters in change. If the total comes to 3.78, I'll give them a five-dollar bill and three pennies.... and watch the world come to a screeching halt. *facepalm
It's sad that it's disappearing... When it's something that is so crucial.


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
11/18/2020 3:00 pm

    Quoting  :

Have you seen the 'new' math they teach now in school? Maybe if they didn't reinvent the wheel.... My daughter's 4th grade teacher wanted me to take a class to learn 'new' math so I could help her with her homework. I flat out refused and told her that as long as my math got the same results as her math, I was sticking with it.


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
11/18/2020 2:55 pm

    Quoting dogslife2live01:
    " My first job was a cashier at a Walgreens and it was a requirement that I count back change to the customer"
    me to! me to when i was young... so so many years ago.
    i worked the cash in a mom & pop shop. i had to count back the change...
    but they did not have an abacus... and now i know why the good lord gave us fingers an toes
    fingers an toes
It helps to count back! That's where you find your errors! It's a lot art.


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
11/18/2020 2:53 pm

    Quoting redrockrascal:
    When your company hires Ms. Einstein please send me the address of the store she works at. Thank you
She's already on board.... But I think Michigan is a long way to travel to shop! LOL


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
11/18/2020 2:51 pm

    Quoting WyoCowboy7751:
    Feeling a little hungry on my way home from evening shift; I stopped at a McD's about 2 blocks from home. Placed my order; handed the clerk a 20. He laid it on the open drawer, counted out my change, as I watched, picked up the 20 and my change and handed it to me. General; being Honest, I would point out the error but noticed on his name badge underneath said, " Shift Lead " ! I pocketed the change and walking out the door was thinking to myself that this drawer shortage would be on him and Thanks for the Free meal !!
Unfortunately, he was probably using someone else's till, which means, someone else may have gotten blamed. At my last job I had to run register quite a bit and part of my closing duties was to do the cash drop. If we were off, every single person who used that register throughout the day got a meeting report. I started to resent the young newbies who were constantly making mistakes.


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
11/18/2020 2:47 pm

    Quoting mc_justmc:
    I've seen the total due come up on the screen, and watched the cashiers repeatedly check the "change due" on the screen. I always do it in my head.
I've seen them do that too.... My biggest peeve is when they just hand me back a wad of cash and say 'here's your change back.' I take the time to count it right then, on too many occasions they've gotten even that wrong. Can't count back change, can't read a cash register, can't count money out of a till.... How in the hell did they become cashiers??


citizen4722 66M  
74582 posts
11/18/2020 8:33 am

Blimey! And I thought my math(s) was bad


TicklePlease 56F  
13851 posts
11/18/2020 6:34 am

Practical math is a skill that is slowly disappearing... I'm one of those people who uses a lot of quarters in my day to day life. When I do pay with cash, I tend to pay for things in a way that gives me a quarters in change. If the total comes to 3.78, I'll give them a five-dollar bill and three pennies.... and watch the world come to a screeching halt. *facepalm


bbuckwwheat 65M
6265 posts
11/18/2020 6:11 am

I think that we were taught how to count back change in school, but then, I graduated high school shorty after you were born. The only people that count back change for me are generally over 40.

Financial awareness and budgeting is being taught in some high schools. Mostly it is learned at home. And if home is struggling, then the children probably will as well. Many can find a solution, but generally not on the first time unless someone else has shown them and the seed sprouts when it counts.

Private mailbox at my blog bbuckwwheat
Fayette, Iowa


dogslife2live01 71M

11/18/2020 6:00 am

" My first job was a cashier at a Walgreens and it was a requirement that I count back change to the customer"
me to! me to when i was young... so so many years ago.
i worked the cash in a mom & pop shop. i had to count back the change...
but they did not have an abacus... and now i know why the good lord gave us fingers an toes
fingers an toes

there is a world of difference between insanity and stupidity


redrockrascal 65M
23580 posts
11/18/2020 5:38 am

When your company hires Ms. Einstein please send me the address of the store she works at. Thank you

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.


WyoCowboy7751 70M
2537 posts
11/18/2020 5:31 am

Feeling a little hungry on my way home from evening shift; I stopped at a McD's about 2 blocks from home. Placed my order; handed the clerk a 20. He laid it on the open drawer, counted out my change, as I watched, picked up the 20 and my change and handed it to me. General; being Honest, I would point out the error but noticed on his name badge underneath said, " Shift Lead " ! I pocketed the change and walking out the door was thinking to myself that this drawer shortage would be on him and Thanks for the Free meal !!


mc_justmc 63M

11/18/2020 3:56 am

I've seen the total due come up on the screen, and watched the cashiers repeatedly check the "change due" on the screen. I always do it in my head.


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
11/18/2020 2:52 am

    Quoting SirlickalotNM:
    Why not just void the 200 that was entered? The register calculates the amount of change to give back, in this case it would tell you to give back 185.25.

    I paid for a meal the other night. The total was 12.75. I gave the person a 20, two ones and 75 cents. He gave me back the 2 ones saying I gave him too much. I said it was so he could give me a 10 back. If he just entered it as I gave it to him in the register it would have showed to give me back 10. Trust the machine.
It was a story problem on a computer based learned course. The only thing you could ender was the amount of change the customer was expecting back. I use my card for everything, anymore, so I rarely have cash on me.... But, I have had that happen to me as well. It usually throws them off when I give them the exact change after they've tendered the sale.


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
11/18/2020 2:45 am

    Quoting lindoboy100:
    That's not an inability to add or subtract, that's just good old stupidity! Ye cannae teach it either, it's in the genes!!
Stupid or not, I still think stuff like this can be taught through repetition. Do it enough for long enough and you become an expert. There needs to be a practical math class in schools these days....


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
11/18/2020 2:39 am

    Quoting  :

Tell me about it!


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
11/18/2020 2:38 am

    Quoting dogslife2live01:
    the problem is not as isolated as you think...i would say passing out of ten chases if they to use their brain to solve a transaction seven will fuck it up.
    but the best has to be Mc'D's when the cashier sought out the manager to help her....
    and he was more lost than the cashier

Back in the day when I used an abacus to do my calculating.... My first job was a cashier at a Walgreens and it was a requirement that I count back change to the customer. Somehow, businesses have moved away from that and, it's really something noticeable.


lindoboy100 61M
23969 posts
11/18/2020 2:32 am

That's not an inability to add or subtract, that's just good old stupidity! Ye cannae teach it either, it's in the genes!!


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
11/18/2020 2:16 am

I know! She's trying really hard too....


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
11/18/2020 2:13 am

    Quoting easy_going2014:
    I hear you

    some of them don't have that problem

    I get caught reading to my grandkids, skipping pages

    I mean, I've read some of these books till they're memorized in my mind

    and, the little ones are not about to be cheated out of their story

    they turn back the pages, and tell me, I missed something

    just sayin'

    have a great day

    Herman's Hermits - "Wonderful World"

    Don't know much about history
    Don't know much biology
    Don't know much about science books
    Don't know much about the French I took
    But I do know that I love you
    And I know that if you loved me too
    What a wonderful world this would be
    Don't know much about geography
    Don't know much trigonometry
    Don't know much about algebra
    Don't know what a slide rule is for
    But I know that one and one is two
    And if this one could be with you
    What a wonderful world this would be
You are right.... I shouldn't lump everyone into that category. But, here's the thing, businesses that cash handle aren't teaching their employees to count back change. I know this, I see it. The register does the work for them.... Unless there is a mistake. That's when I see the struggle. I have also witnessed my coworker with the masters degree struggle to make change. (Granted, he is normally not a cashier, but basic math should not be a struggle.)


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
11/18/2020 2:05 am

    Quoting lok4fun500:
    I want to go through her line also!
I feel bad for her.... She had come to me and asked if she could get more hours because she and her boyfriend are behind on their rent and the landlord is threatening to evict them. Part of me thinks it's probably because they aren't managing their money well.... But this kind of stuff still pulls at my heart strings for people.


dogslife2live01 71M

11/18/2020 2:01 am

the problem is not as isolated as you think...i would say passing out of ten chases if they to use their brain to solve a transaction seven will fuck it up.
but the best has to be Mc'D's when the cashier sought out the manager to help her....
and he was more lost than the cashier


there is a world of difference between insanity and stupidity


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
11/18/2020 1:57 am

    Quoting jolielaide:
    good Lord! i was hysterical at the "what about the $200. what happens to that?"
She just couldn't get that $200 out of her head! LOL I really do think the schools need to add a class called 'Practical Math' where students learn stuff just like this. This is something they'll need to use the rest of their life even if they're just using it as a consumer.


SirlickalotNM 61M  
147 posts
11/18/2020 1:33 am

Why not just void the 200 that was entered? The register calculates the amount of change to give back, in this case it would tell you to give back 185.25.

I paid for a meal the other night. The total was 12.75. I gave the person a 20, two ones and 75 cents. He gave me back the 2 ones saying I gave him too much. I said it was so he could give me a 10 back. If he just entered it as I gave it to him in the register it would have showed to give me back 10. Trust the machine.


jolielaide 52F  
1754 posts
11/17/2020 11:46 pm

good Lord! i was hysterical at the "what about the $200. what happens to that?"


hardguy0051 72M
503 posts
11/17/2020 10:28 pm

    Quoting easy_going2014:
    I hear you

    some of them don't have that problem

    I get caught reading to my grandkids, skipping pages

    I mean, I've read some of these books till they're memorized in my mind

    and, the little ones are not about to be cheated out of their story

    they turn back the pages, and tell me, I missed something

    just sayin'

    have a great day

    Herman's Hermits - "Wonderful World"

    Don't know much about history
    Don't know much biology
    Don't know much about science books
    Don't know much about the French I took
    But I do know that I love you
    And I know that if you loved me too
    What a wonderful world this would be
    Don't know much about geography
    Don't know much trigonometry
    Don't know much about algebra
    Don't know what a slide rule is for
    But I know that one and one is two
    And if this one could be with you
    What a wonderful world this would be
Sam Cooke recorded that song a decade earlier... and much better.


lok4fun500 M
51906 posts
11/17/2020 9:36 pm

I want to go through her line also!


easy_going2014 57M
14366 posts
11/17/2020 7:58 pm

I hear you

some of them don't have that problem

I get caught reading to my grandkids, skipping pages

I mean, I've read some of these books till they're memorized in my mind

and, the little ones are not about to be cheated out of their story

they turn back the pages, and tell me, I missed something

just sayin'

have a great day

Herman's Hermits - "Wonderful World"

Don't know much about history
Don't know much biology
Don't know much about science books
Don't know much about the French I took
But I do know that I love you
And I know that if you loved me too
What a wonderful world this would be
Don't know much about geography
Don't know much trigonometry
Don't know much about algebra
Don't know what a slide rule is for
But I know that one and one is two
And if this one could be with you
What a wonderful world this would be

To leave private messages, please use my confidential mailbox at my blog:

Good luck!!!


onelastchan00 54F  
4525 posts
11/17/2020 7:56 pm

Oh bless her heart 😋😋

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