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OT: If you do math in your head ....
ctf_error_coins
Posts: 15,433 ✭✭✭✭✭
... dealing with retail cashiers can be extremely frustrating, just saying... end of rant.
5
ctf_error_coins
Posts: 15,433 ✭✭✭✭✭
ctf_error_coins
Posts: 15,433 ✭✭✭✭✭
Comments
The problem is that you can and a lot of them can't.
Most of them nowadays don't count your change back to you, just plop it in your hand....No math involved, all computer.
bob
Try paying with $2 bills.....
ok long version for fun .....
go to Albertsons to buy 12 pack of Bottles of Kona Brewing Big Wave Golden Ale with a tagged sale price of 12.99 and a box of famous amos cookies for i think $3.49.
get to the lines and they are all long, get in shortest. Couple in line gets behind me. next line one two ppl peel off and the couple pops over. We laugh about which line will be quicker and I tell them something will probably go wrong in my line.
just kinda zoning in line when I look up and the couple is leaving and he is waving at me laughing. still had two ppl ahead of me. no worries as I was just chilling.
Finally my turn, the blonde 45ish lady who rang me up for the two items told me my total (i did not watch them rung up) and it was 20 something and I said how much was the beer and she said $14.99.
I then said the sale price tag on the aisle said $12.99 and then she said she can't discount beer, and I said what, that's your price.
She then sent the box boy to check, I said I am going with him and did.
We get back to the check stand and the box boy confirms the price of $12.99
She (cashier) then says she can't can't discount alcohol and I and I say it is not a discount, it is your marked price.
She sends the box boy back a second time. he comes back and confirms the lower price.
She and the box boy then go back to check for a third time and come back with the sticker and the price of $12.99
She then takes 2 dollars off and the price goes from $20.33 to $18.33 and I say .... "what about the sales tax?"
And she's all what, that is the price. I say so there is no sales tax on alcohol in california?
She says what, there is. I'm like can you take off the tax?
Then she says what do you want me do do?
I say, "Charge me the correct price."
She then voids out the whole transaction and sends me to the special counter delaying me even more.
After the special cashier rung me up the price was 18.17 and not the 18.33 or 20.33 she was trying to charge me. Math wins out.
As I tried to ask for a manager to report the cashier, she (the cashier ) comes up to me and says I don't need to report her, she herself would let the manage know, I'm Like WTF, you want to report yourself with only your version. geeez.
I did report her to the manager .
Too many folks are lost without a calculator.
And sadly, even with a calculator, lots of folks can't balance their checkbook.
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Well you got your two dollars off and then you got your extra 16 cents back so all's well that ends well, and an amusing story to boot
I did that money math in my head, but I would need to know your thinking and typing speeds to calculate how much time you spent on these posts.
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
lol, i know, Any other other checker in the world I would not have cared about the 16 cents, but she was basically calling me a lair to my face as she checked the price 3 times. Told me she could not discount alcohol. She then did incorrect math so I said wtf I may as well mess with her.
The time on the post was for fun
Was she blonde?
I like using twos, and halves as well. Get some interesting responses from those, usually "where do you get those?"
Collector, occasional seller
I had a rant once. It was twice as long and required no change, but the manager gave me a free happy meal anyway.
Assuming no sales tax on alcohol, then the original $14.99 added no tax to the total. So she was correct in only subtracting the $2.00. UNLESS she originally rang it up incorrectly as taxable.
What can you do? Maybe drink the beer while you're waiting?
I like Famous Amos cookies.
Lance.
My favorite experience:
My total was $9.70.
I handed over 2 fives.
She mistakenly punches in $15. (Some fine math right there!)
Of course, the register claims change is $5.30.
Girl has to go searching for a calculator.
I tried to 'splain that she just needs to subtract the $5, and give me a $0.30.
She doesn't trust me.
After doing some calculus, geometry, and trigonometry (apparently), she finally decides I was right.
But rather than give me a quarter and nickel, she hands over 3 dimes.
I'm guessing the math was easier for her that way....
If you understand how the projection onto the nullspace of a full column rank matrix involves solving for its left pseudoinverse ... dealing with the average person can be extremely frustrating, just saying.
No need to jeopardize a persons' job over a slip-up.
Ya, what he said!
OK....I guess this is coin related.
For me it was the kid at the drive through. I ask for an Icee, and he says "Coke?" I say no I want an Icee and he says "you want Hi-C orange?" By now I'm like WTF? I say NO I WANT I C E E spelling it out to him... I say there is a picture of it on your menu. He says oh ok and I pay and drive away. I get about 5 miles down the road and take a sip.... Its Coke.
little bass turd got me good.
"A dog breaks your heart only one time and that is when they pass on". Unknown
The human gene pool is severely diluted nowadays.
Insert witicism here. [ xxx ]
mt_msl, That video was great... Thankfully my kid gets straight A's as I too great at math can not help him with his common core division homework.
The line for people paying with plastic should be in the parking lot next to the dumpster!
What annoys me is when I get behind the old lady who still writes checks! She writes it all out (as slow as possible), hands it to the cashier, who then runs it through the eCheck automatic processing machine, and hands the check back to her.
Seriously, WTF, who writes checks in 2016? Get a debit card, it's the same d$%@ thing.
I guess this just shows there are generational differences in what annoys us at grocery stores.
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a local grocery store runs the checks through blank. no writing required. tried to tell people this in front of me before that were writing out checks like it was a piece of artwork. the usual response, "oh, i dont mind." smh.
i pay with all 3 forms and it is a toss-up between cash and credit/debit as to which is fastest.
why do people get plastic/paper bags in-lieu of canvas re-usables? i get .05 off every bag use and they only cost .99 usually. they hold more, last longer, easier on fingers, etc etc. go figure.
i didnt add that checks are run through seemingly the same blank and filled out.
.
That's my 88-year-old Mom.
She tried using a debit card. But her checkbook never balanced.
"You mean I use the card AND write the amount in my checkbook? I don't do that with my other cards."
It frustrates and confuses her. So now, she never carries a debit card.
Sadly, her checkbook never balances anyway. She transposes numbers, makes arithmetic mistakes, and forgets to record auto-deposits. It's a mess every month.
Her Solution: "I need a new calculator with bigger keys."
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Simple math has been lost to technology. I've said for years, yes learning that a×t=p is important and all but in schools instead of the crazy math and diagramming a sentence, and dissecting frogs maybe they should make time to teach students how to
BALANCE A CHECKBOOK
PAY BILLS
MAKE A BUDGET
HOW TO FILL OUT A JOB APP
HAPPY COLLECTING
I'm plus 70 and do not have a debit card either. I write checks (free from my bank as I'm a Vet). I do not have a PIN number to my name and will not. I have enough problems remembering my phone number and address.
Give it a break!
And please add to the above (but not in all caps):
--How to spell.
--How to do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division without a calculator.
--Basic grammar (preferably in the form of how to diagram a sentence).
Kind regards,
George
And to the above please add (but not in all caps):
--How to spell.
--How to do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division without a calculator.
--How to make change at a cash register (optional: how to cook French fries to McD standards).
Kind regards,
George
I refuse a debit card due to the loss liability.
The world must suffer.
(and if I don't favor a cashier, I give a combination of coins and cash where the change is a whole number)
I always do this and it really confuses some cashiers.
I ordered a chocolate shake (small). They gave me a large. Not sure it's a math problem. I attributed it to a literacy issue.
no one seems to know how to count change back. they should teach this in school. i didn't know until someone taught me on the job when i turned 16.
if the total is 5.26 and someone gives you a 10...it's much harder to do subtraction in this scenario than addition. you just start with 5.26 (or whatever the total is), then you add up the change until you get to 10 (or the amount you were given).
so, start with 5.26,
add:
4 cents makes 5.30
two dimes makes 5.50
two quarters makes 6.00
4 ones makes 10.
easy.
The lesson here is that if you're going to be in line for 20 minutes, buy something stronger than a golden ale.
I consider myself the "Johnnie Appleseed" of numismatics,
at least here in the Encino/Tarzana/Sherman Oaks/Woodland Hills
area of the San Fernando Valley.
To me, it's a game to try to give EXACT change when I can, or
something close, so the amount due me back is easy.
i.e.; if my purchase is $23.55, I'll give out a $20 bill, a $2 Bill,
one Presidential dollar, two new State Quarters, and a nickel.
You'd be surprised (maybe not) how many cashier's at most of
the local businesses I go to remember me, and look forward to
the $1 coins and especially the $2 Bills - they love them, but
some of them, mostly the younger one's, get confused, even
when I 'count it out' for them as I'm paying, if they get payment
in normal Bills, $2 Bills, Presidential Dollars, etc.....
But it's always fun, and I make sure there's no delay for the folks
behind me.
for PCGS. A 49+-Year PNG Member...A full numismatist since 1972, retired in 2022
One time I stopped at a well known burger chain. My order cost $3 and some change. I paid with a $20. Was given change for a $5. I said "hey, I gave you a $20". They opened the drawer and my $20 was sitting in the $5 bill slot. They then handed me the full change for a $20, instead of just the $15 they owed me. While waiting for my food I noticed many people who ordered after me were getting theirs, but I hadn't. They forgot my order. I told them "I'd like either my food or my money back". They gave me both $3 and change back plus my food.
So I got free food and was about a buck and half richer in the end.
I once placed an order to go for chicken and dumplings. I asked the cashier how much a quart would cost and she replied that they don't sell it that way. She explained that they sell it by volume. I asked what volume and she pointed to a container. Wanting to know the price, I asked how much for a container. She said 16 ounces. Throughly amused but not wanting to confuse her, I went along. I asked her how many people that 16 ounce container would feed. She said that a normal serving was 9 ounces so the container should feed about 4. I told her I wanted a quart so give me 2 of those containers. She again told me they didn't sell it that way, they sold it by volume. Growing frustrated instead of amused, I told her to fill up 2 of those containers and sell it to me. She had to get the manager because she didn't know how to price it!
M.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhm7-LEBznk
Haven't figured out how to post a link yet. By the way, debit/credit cards are likely on their way out in place of using your phone to pay your bill.
"A dog breaks your heart only one time and that is when they pass on". Unknown
Don't get me started on the mathematical teachings in school today, I have a 12 year old and even though he knows I have studied and taught such things as 'the 3D structural analysis of axi-symmetric shells of revolution [think nuclear cooling towers], he still gets very upset that I don't understand that "tape diagrams" are needed to compute 3/5 x 10 = 6.
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OT but customer service , disservice, ---On more than one occasion I have ordered a "plain cheese burger only to get a hamburger with no cheese !!!
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Checkout lines can certainly be fun.... or frustrating. The supermarket here often has older clerks, so the issues are less frequent... however, fast food outlets are mostly young people and many seem to be dropouts or 'sleepers' when it comes to math....When an error is made and you point it out... that 'deer in the headlights' look tells you immediately that you may as well ask for a manager (not always successful either) or just accept it if a minor issue.
I find the youth of today are dramatically in two categories.... very smart or very stupid.... not sure why this is. Cheers, RickO
Don't feel.bad. It has happened on two occasions to me ordering a cheese burger and have not gotten the meat. How do you forget the meat in a cheese burger?
"A dog breaks your heart only one time and that is when they pass on". Unknown
Where's the beef?!?!
4th grade math skills are required to be a cashier, but they don't use that skill anymore with the computer telling them how much change comes back. It's an advantage to be old school and do the math in your head while waiting in line and be accurate. The kids today....what a sham education has become.
Free Trial
Its embarrassing what we have allowed our education system to get away with.
"A dog breaks your heart only one time and that is when they pass on". Unknown
@1Mike1 ...The operative word in your statement is 'we'........We (as parents) have allowed the education system to become what it is today.... When did the educators take over and decide what would be taught?
Somewhere I read a quote, supposedly from a famous totalitarian (I do not recall who right now), about controlling the minds of children to eventually controlling everyone. Cheers, RickO
Bun only and no meat= Streakier burger.:)
To all the cranky old people:
Congratulations on being able to do math in your head and parse sentences all day long, and memorize all the states and their capitols.
The physics of the planet have not changed for thousands of years, and the number of naturally occurring elements still is 92.
50 years ago, why not, instead of spending all the time on memorization, invent the IPHONE, GPS, accident avoidance systems for cars, digital cameras, protease inhibitors, etc.
Maybe urban legend, but allegedly, Albert Einstein was asked for his phone number, to which, he took a phone directory, and looked it up. The person was amazed, that Einstein did not even know his own phone number., He replied that he knew where to find his phone number, but used his brain to think the thoughts no one had thought yet.
There are REAMS of educational systems that are the FINEST in the world at rear view mirror teaching: They concentrate on what has been learned, not what is yet to be discovered. Mind numbing drills, thousands of hours spent on learning 2 systems of writing (cursive and printing) that the longest thing I "write" with a pen or pencil is my signature, learning 487 nuance inane rules of grammar, instead of fixing an archaic language cobbled together over 600 years, memorizing weird spellings of thousands of words that is great of a spelling bee, but spell check fixes all. There are thousands of highly educated people, many of them teachers, who can recite everything in the past, but cannot move a inch or centimeter into the future.
In my "real" job as an engineering manager, I interviewed hundreds of people with college degrees, from bachelor to PHD's, and the biggest "problem" was separating those who "knew" versus those who could "think". I need the thinkers who would bury me in new patent applications. Those who were mistakenly hired, who were in the "knew" category, were relegated to proofing the grammar and checking for mathematical oopsies in the work of the thinkers.
All this does not excuse, though, being a dolt at McDonalds, and unable to manage basic life skills.
I do what Fred does, and it really confuses the young'uns when I give them a half dollar and a dollar coin and the half dollar is bigger!
Electricity is the crown prince of false security - Sherlock Holmes
Thankfully, monetary arithmetic is much simpler since we are only dealing with U.S. Currency in daily transactions. In the early days of the United States, foreign currencies were legal tender in the U.S., and so cashiers would need figure in the relative values of each currency. That was one of the reasons Thomas Jefferson proposed that our National currency should be based on the Dollar as the principal unit, along with its natural decimal sub-units.
Here's what Thomas Jefferson said to the U.S. Congress, about what "everyone" remembers about money arithmetic:
"Every one knows the facility of decimal arithmetic. Every one remembers that, when learning money arithmetic, he used to be puzzled with adding the farthings, taking out the fours and carrying them on; adding the pence, taking out the twelves and carrying them on; adding the shillings, taking out the twentieths and carrying them on; but when he came to the pounds, where he had only tens to carry forward, it was easy and free from error."
Just imagine the difficulties cashiers would face today, if foreign currencies were still in circulation every day!