60% of girls aged 18-21 cannot do basic addition/subtraction w/o calculator

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I

IceBergSLiM

Lifer
Jul 11, 2000
29,933
3
81
Ok so at the lounge I work at we've had 5 cashiers I've had to work with. All of them are high school grads. A couple are in college. None of them had basic understanding of how cash registers worked.

Whats worse is the 3 out of 5 required a calculator to make change. Cover charge is either 8, 10, 12 or 15. There is no coinage only round dollar amounts are used.

basic things like two $12 cover charges out of $40... what is the change? They have to ask me?

On more than one occasion they asked customers how much they should give them back.....:confused:


Its not like prices change constantly. They give the same change back over and over and they cannot even memorize the correct change to give...they have to continually ask....

how do you graduate middle school, let alone high school let alone get into college with out being able to do simple arithmetic.....

please assure me this is an isolated incident.
 
I

imported_Imp

Diamond Member
Dec 20, 2005
9,148
0
0
What about men?

Oh and were those 60% part of the in-crowd? You know, the ones that have losers who so want to be in doing their homework? I knew a few of these people back in the day.
 
I

IceBergSLiM

Lifer
Jul 11, 2000
29,933
3
81
Originally posted by: Imp
What about men?

Oh and were those 60% part of the in-crowd? You know, the ones that have losers who so want to be in doing their homework? I knew a few of these people back in the day.
Click to expand...

The only men we have working cash registers are bartenders. They are competent.

I have no idea what these girls were like in high school.
 
3

3NF

Golden Member
Feb 5, 2005
1,345
0
0
I don't know. My brother told me that his 13 year old son has to ask the cashier how much money he should get back, and yet he is supposedly learning this "new age" math.
 
R

Ronstang

Lifer
Jul 8, 2000
12,493
18
81
I think it is a lot worse than most of you think but it pertains to all young people these days. People tend to see the world through their own eyes....you assume others can because you can....but that is really not the case. I know people in their 20s that cannot tell time on a regular clock with hands....only a digital clock. That is pretty scary.
 
Jeff7

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,599
19
81
My dad had some bad experiences with deli counter workers. He'd usually order something like, "3 tenths of a pound" of lunchmeat or cheese. The scales have a readout in decimal, to two places. The best response was, "Pounds don't come in tenths." The poor woman was so confused by this that she had to go get help, even after my dad explained it to her. After the supervisor explained it to her, she started crying.
I guess some people are really well-suited to the level of job that they have.


And it's probably not 60% of girls aged 18-21. It's probably 60% of people aged 18-21.

I'm one example of calculator usage gone wrong - they never tried to teach us how to solve square roots manually. To do that, you got out your blue school-provided Texas Instruments calculator.


It's not just math, either. Plenty of people can't tell time on an analog-style clock, either; they need a digital readout.
 
I

IceBergSLiM

Lifer
Jul 11, 2000
29,933
3
81
Originally posted by: Jeff7
My dad had some bad experiences with deli counter workers. He'd usually order something like, "3 tenths of a pound" of lunchmeat or cheese. The scales have a readout in decimal, to two places. The best response was, "Pounds don't come in tenths." The poor woman was so confused by this that she had to go get help, even after my dad explained it to her. After the supervisor explained it to her, she started crying.
I guess some people are really well-suited to the level of job that they have.


And it's probably not 60% of girls aged 18-21. It's probably 60% of people aged 18-21.

I'm one example of calculator usage gone wrong - they never tried to teach us how to solve square roots manually. To do that, you got out your blue school-provided Texas Instruments calculator.


It's not just math, either. Plenty of people can't tell time on an analog-style clock, either; they need a digital readout.
Click to expand...

ok but its money.....how do they ever know they are getting short changed. How can they balance a check book? :confused:

If this is commonplace the future isn't so bright for America.

Who the hell orders 3/10's of a pound though? come on.
 
Kelemvor

Kelemvor

Lifer
May 23, 2002
16,930
7
81
Once i started in Calculus and Trig and things like that, I lost the ability to do simple math. But I stopped all that and now I can do normal math fine again.
 
I

IceBergSLiM

Lifer
Jul 11, 2000
29,933
3
81
Originally posted by: Kelemvor
Once i started in Calculus and Trig and things like that, I lost the ability to do simple math. But I stopped all that and now I can do normal math fine again.
Click to expand...

I would like to think this is the same situation but ...its definitely not.
 
SSSnail

SSSnail

Lifer
Nov 29, 2006
17,461
82
86
Bet you they can divide two really quick though...

Ba dumm tsssst.... I'll be here all week.
 
N

nonameo

Diamond Member
Mar 13, 2006
5,949
3
76
Many cash registers do the change automatically now. I'm not surprised at their incompetence.

OTOH I can do change pretty well, but I'd probably never get hired as a cashier since I'm a guy.
 
I

IceBergSLiM

Lifer
Jul 11, 2000
29,933
3
81
Originally posted by: nonameo
Many cash registers do the change automatically now. I'm not surprised at their incompetence.

OTOH I can do change pretty well, but I'd probably never get hired as a cashier since I'm a guy.
Click to expand...

Ummm I tried teaching them how to let the machine make change for them and they fvcked that up too.
 
Jeff7

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,599
19
81
Originally posted by: IcebergSlim
ok but its money.....how do they ever know they are getting short changed. How can they balance a check book? :confused:
Click to expand...
With a calculator?


If this is commonplace the future isn't so bright for America.

Who the hell orders 3/10's of a pound though? come on.
Click to expand...
With a calculator?
That's exactly how much he needs for a week's worth of sandwiches.
I don't know the actual number, but it's precise to a tenth of a pound. Most people don't have any problem with this. You probably order by tenths of a pound, too. You just call 5/10ths "one-half." I should be able to order 50/100ths of a pound and get it without much hesitation. Of course, specifying it to the hundredths tightens the tolerance.;)
 
destrekor

destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
359
126
I very much believe this is true. Why? Men are proven to be more visually minded, and better geared toward arithmetic. It's the testosterone. Kind of funny, because on National Geographic last night, there was an hour-long special on testosterone and they studied it's effects on males in multiple lifeforms.
 
MagnusTheBrewer

MagnusTheBrewer

IN MEMORIAM
Jun 19, 2004
24,135
1,594
126
It's pretty poor but, I do want to note that cashiering skills have nothing to do with the ability to subtract other than doing a reality check.

Good cashiers count FORWARD from the amount owed til they reach the amount given. Anyone who hires cashiers and can't explain this clearly is as hopeless as those unable to do simple arithmetic.

That said, not everyone can be a good cashier even if they can do simple arithmetic in their heads anymore than anyone can be a good dishwasher. Both jobs take a certain skill set which has nothing to do with intelligence.
 
D

dougp

Diamond Member
May 3, 2002
7,950
4
0
Originally posted by: IcebergSlim
Ok so at the lounge I work at we've had 5 cashiers I've had to work with. All of them are high school grads. A couple are in college. None of them had basic understanding of how cash registers worked.

Whats worse is the 3 out of 5 required a calculator to make change. Cover charge is either 8, 10, 12 or 15. There is no coinage only round dollar amounts are used.

basic things like two $12 cover charges out of $40... what is the change? They have to ask me?

On more than one occasion they asked customers how much they should give them back.....:confused:


Its not like prices change constantly. They give the same change back over and over and they cannot even memorize the correct change to give...they have to continually ask....

how do you graduate middle school, let alone high school let alone get into college with out being able to do simple arithmetic.....

please assure me this is an isolated incident.
Click to expand...

Except, it's not ... I don't get it either, I'm always correcting cashiers who try to give me too much cash back (one of the big reasons why I don't carry cash anymore.) I'm to the point of just keeping it though and letting them get fired for short changing.
 
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