I very rarely run into people who are absolutely pathetic at basic math. Last night on the way to a volunteering engagement, I stopped by a coffee shop to get something to tide me over till the event ended. So my total comes to $3.14. I hand the cashier $20 and then I check my wallet to see if I had any change. What luck! I find 15 cents in nickels in there so I hand them to the cashier. The cashier had already pushed the tender button on the register so it displayed that I was owed $16.86. The cashier then proceeds to count out 86 cents. So I try to explain to him that he should give me $17 back instead of the $16.86. We go back and forth for a bit, he continues counting out random amounts of change, I keep trying to tell him to just give me $17. I eventually admit defeat. He gives me my 15 cents back and counts out (again) 86 cents and gives it to me.

The sad part was that he didn’t appear to be an American. So that leaves me a bit dumbfounded. I would be more accepting of an American having this issue based on my experiences in the US public education [sic] system. Oh well.

I’m not sure what is more upsetting. The fact that I would be “okay” with an American having this problem or the fact that someone who clearly doesn’t have coherent math skills is manning a cash register.

• Awesome Song of the Moment: "Hell No" by Sondre Lerche & Regina Spektor

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 21st, 2007 at 1:43 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.