This is a simple scenario to prove that basic math is so complex to some people. Sorry to my readers for not posting anything over the past month, but I had a little too much on my plate (including a kidney stone that I’m still carrying and having to do a lot of outdoor work at our house and my in-law’s house) and something had to give.
On the way to work this morning, I went to a local department store (Kmart in this case), to purchase some snacks and something to drink while I’m at work. The total came to $9.36, so I handed the cashier a $10 bill. Then I started reaching into my pocket to see if I had the change. The cashier ended up entering $10 into the register and ringing it out. With the drawer still open, I handed him the $0.36, and he grabbed $0.28 additional cents out of the drawer and gave me the change. I immediately recognized that it wasn’t the $1 bill I expected, and it wasn’t even $1 in change, it was merely the amount of money that the machine told him to pay me back.
Before leaving the register and walking off, I mentioned that he had given me the incorrect amount of change. He started saying that he put the $10 in first, and then gave me the change for the $10. I said that I appreciated what he thought he did, but that he should have given me $1 back, and taken the change I gave him in addition to the $10 bill otherwise his drawer would have been over when it was counted up at the end of his shift. He started to get a little upset and reiterate what he had already told me, when I had to cut him off, and explain that I gave him $10.36 and that I should be receiving $1 back, whether it was in change or as a $1 bill.
If it wasn’t for me saying something, for that single transaction I would have left with 3.8% fee due to the inability of the cashier to use basic math in his head, and realize that $10.36 – $9.36 = $1.00, or payment – cost = change
Have you ever had this happen to you before?
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