Basic Math. Very Basic Math.

[Danno]

I'm going to again preface this by saying that I personally suck at math. Lately though, the ol' custard stand has had a few customers that make me realize my math skills could be much, much worse.

Incident 1:

Customer: I need two of your $3.95's. How much will that be?

A sort of humorous question, but what really made it strange was that he was holding a five dollar bill while asking this. When informed that the cost of his order would be just a dime short of eight dollars, he seemed surprised and dismayed that he'd have to pull his wallet back out and dig for more money.

Incident 2:

Happened to a coworker, but I got to witness the fun. A woman pulled up in drive-thru and ordered a sundae. When questioned whether she'd like whipped cream, she asked the difference in price.

Customer: How much is it without the cream?
Coworker: $3.50.
Customer: And with?
Coworker: $4.00.
Coworker: Ah, so the whipped cream would be 20% of the price. Naw, I'll pass on it.

Again, I suck at math but gradeschool division told me that fifty cents is 1/8 of the four dollars, not 1/5 or 20%. Whatever, I've had bigger brain farts myself and didn't really hold it against her. Then came the punchline.

Coworker: You're pretty good at math.
Customer: (Big smile) Thank you, I'm a math teacher.

She drove away happily, and I somehow restrained myself from asking which school to avoid...

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Coworker: You're pretty good at math.
Customer: (Big smile) Thank you, I'm a math teacher.

.

You know, I can't even commiserate with you on the idea,for instance, that someone might not be able to figure out that five bucks is less than two times 3.95. Or how percentages work. Me? Not real plugged into the whole fractions thing, to say the least. I know a lot of really, really smart people that dont' honestly don't understand how that works. Can't understand it, really.

However, none of them are math teachers.

[Danno]

I'm pretty bad at doing quick math in my head; I usually need to write things down if it involves carrying digits. However I'm fortunate to work in a place where every price ends in 0 or 5 and there's rarely tax, so the math is usually easy. ...Not that I have to do very much of it.

Customers sometimes ask questions like "How much would three ____ cost," and when I give a quick answer they think I'm good at math. No, I'm just average at memorization; I've heard combinations like three cones or two shakes so many times that the prices have stuck in my head.

[nomorecarts]

Customer: How much is it without the cream?
Coworker: $3.50.
Customer: And with?
Coworker: $4.00.
Coworker: Ah, so the whipped cream would be 20% of the price. Naw, I'll pass on it.

no ma'am, it would be 12.5%. 20% would be 80 cents unless you mean of the $3.50, then it would be 14.28% 20% of that would be 70 cents. would you like a calculator to verify?. I feel sorry for the servers at restaurants she eats at

[Evil Queen]

OH MY GOD! Was that my third grade math teacher?!

I've never recovered my math skills, I'm terrible, I just blank. -_-

[SpyOne]

You know, I can't even commiserate with you on the idea,for instance, that someone might not be able to figure out that five bucks is less than two times 3.95. Or how percentages work. Me? Not real plugged into the whole fractions thing, to say the least. I know a lot of really, really smart people that dont' honestly don't understand how that works. Can't understand it, really.

I can help with that a little, I think.
My brother is fond of saying that with math, the key is to break the problem down into problems you do know the answer to.
I'm always saying "don't do more work than you have to."
3.95 is almost 4, right? What's 4 times 2? (it's the same as 4 plus 4, which is 8.) Now, is 5 more than 8? No. Is it even close? No. So, you don't need to bother working out what 3.95 times two is: it's more than 5.


I thought that the customer in question was asking about tax, right up until I heard he had to get his wallet back out.

You'd be amazed at how many customers I get who are buying 3 item, each clearly priced at over one dollar ($1.19, $1.09, $1.39, ...) and then they look mystified that their purchase came to more than $3. I used to think they were just lazy: not bothering to think. I shudder to think that they are acutally not capable of getting that answer.
(Again, to be clear, I totally forgive not bothering to/being able to work out what $1.19 times 3 is in your head, and I am probably the only freak in the world who likes to compute the tax in his head so that he's holding exact change before he's even rung up, but I do expect most adults to be able to realize that 3 times $1.09 is going to be some number bigger than $3.00.)

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Actually, I can do really rudimentary, roundabout calculations, like you say. Round it up or break it down to stuff I CAN grasp. I can ballpark probably better than a lot of people with dyscalculia (a dyslexia-like disorder) can.

However, yeah, there are people out there who are physically incapable of doing what seems to most people to be simple no-brainer type calculations. 6% of the population (and that's more people that it sounds like) are incapable of doing simple calculations. So please don't dismiss someone out of hand as stupid if they can't do a "simple" math problem. They might have weird wiring in their heads. And believe me, they are acutely aware of how dumb people think they are because of it.

Look at it this way...the part of my brain that does mathmatical calculations and number sequencing doesn't work. It's not developed. To me, trying to understand calculations is like trying to see a color outside the spectrum my eyes were designed to see. I just dont' have the software to run that program. I dont' even see numbers the way normal people do.

On the flip side, most people with dyscalculia and dyslexia tend to be of average to high IQ. So the nimrod at the checkout stand might actually be a freaking genius.

My math aptitude might be somewhere around 2nd grade. And that's being generous.

[Danno]

On the flip side, most people with dyscalculia and dyslexia tend to be of average to high IQ. So the nimrod at the checkout stand might actually be a freaking genius.

Some people, definitely. This particular guy, probably not. I left out the second part of the story where he wasn't sure which $3.95 item he wanted. I think his wife in the car just told him to get the thing that was $3.95, not realizing there are about seven things on the menu at that price.

Even then though I guess the guy could be a genius, just not very inquisitive.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Well, true. Occam's Razor does say, basically, that "It's usually the easy answer."

And the easy answer is that the guy is quite possibly just a dumbass.

[TheComputerError]

I suppose here would be where I could explain my user name.

My coworker (D) was ringing out a lady (we'll call her F) and the total came to $10.99. Said lady tendered a $20. D entered the 20 into the register and the display changed to the change amount of $9.01. And, then, the unthinkable happened.

F: I have the penny.
D: Huh?
F: I have a penny, so you can give me a ten dollar bill.
D: *looks confused*
(D's not very good at math, which is surprising considering she's a senior pharmacy technician, but I'm sure I'll post about that some other time)
Me: Ma'am, I'm afraid that if you give us the penny, we'll be giving it right back to you, as your change is $9.01, and adding a penny will not bring it up to $10.
F: If you add the penny to the 99 cents, it equals a dollar. Add a dollar to the 9 and you have 10.
Me: O.o
F: The computers are always wrong when it comes to this.
Me: I'm afraid you're mistaken, ma'am. If you give us $20.01 to pay for a $10.99 bill, you will get $9.02 back.
F: The customer is always right. (Yes, she actually said this.)
Me: I'm sorry, ma'am, but this time, mathematically, you are wrong.
F: Well, see? You're the computer error!

She ended up getting the change she was due and not what she was demanding, but the kicker (and there's always a kicker) was that she stated after our little exchange that she was a front end supervisor and trained her cashiers not to follow the cash registers' instructions.

[Evil Queen]

But... the customer actually was right. And she said the dreaded line; "the customer is always right"
......

Is the world ending without me?!?!

[Broomjockey]

I
F: The customer is always right. (Yes, she actually said this.)
Me: I'm sorry, ma'am, but this time, mathematically, you are wrong.
F: Well, see? You're the computer error!

But... the customer actually was right. And she said the dreaded line; "the customer is always right"
......

Is that the customer you were talking about? 'cause they weren't right. No apocalypse for now.

[Danno]

Yeah, that sounds a lot like a variation on an old scam, but...

Why would you go to that kind of trouble just to pay less 99 cents? Unless perhaps you're a scammer who's not in it for the money but for the thrill of the game, feeling of superiority to the scammee, or some other esoteric nonsense.

[nomorecarts]

But... the customer actually was right. And she said the dreaded line; "the customer is always right"
......

Is the world ending without me?!?!

the change was $9.01, so the cashier owed the customer $9.01, the customer giving another penny would make the cashier owe the customer $9.02

[Evil Queen]

...I told ya I was bad at math.