Made even more stunning that your transaction couldn't be the first time he's needed to make change, could it?

It's not hard. I worked in retail as a teenager and back then, registers didn't give you the exact amount of change you had to fish out of the register. I learned to give change and count up pretty quickly.

Believe me, I'm no math whiz.

It's sad that children are no longer taught how to make change.

Just like they aren't teaching cursive writing in many schools, it's seems doing math without a device is a thing of the past now too. When my daughter was in school calculators were still considered cheating but now they're expected.

I'm no math wiz either, but I was drawn to English and grammer in school, not Math. One of the things I've always admired about my husband is he's like a human calculator, he can figure out anything in his mind and he's fast too! It's sad to know that's pretty much a thing of the past now as well.

I've had that happen to me too. It really is sad and it's doing the kids a disservice to not teach them practical things like making change and writing in cursive. Too bad for them.

Also, by being able to figure out in my head "about" how much I will owe when I get to the register (if it's just a few things), I knew that the clerk made a mistake and had him recheck his numbers and I was right!

I'm still surprised at how many working in retail, restaurants, cannot (or do not) count back change to a customer. I can't tell you how much trouble we'd have been in when I did work in retail if we had just handed a customer a wad of money as change, going by what popped up on the register, without counting it back into their hand. It takes seconds longer, and everyone is clear about the transaction that just took place ;0)

Glenda, you handled that beautifully. I am hoping that the family did not put him there if for some reason he is truly unable to count.

As a cafe owner, I can say in defense of the arithmetic challenged, that if you are engaging in friendly conversation (and being a little distracted) with a customer, some times it is harder to get the other side of your brain to click on.

He was filling in for his dad while he was away from the counter for a few minutes. No conversation involved per say.

I've been going to the restaurant for 30 years.

One set price for any meat and two veggies which includes the tax. Waitress writes the amt on the paper receipt and places it on your table.

So the cashier when given the money and the bill only has to count needed change.

Young man probably is working to help his dad out during the summer.

Glenda, I can just about see the look on his face. I've seen it many times before. It's a real shame too because it would make their life so much easier. Question? Were you eating in Trussville?

WOW! Failed is all I have to say.

It happened to me the other day on another level. The cashier asked me to step over to her register. The curtain rod was $11.99. She had a sale/price check on the register from a previous transaction, never swiped the bar code, took my 40% off coupon and charged me $1 and never batted an eye.

Linda, I was at Nikki's downtown B'ham.

Nicole, I had something similar happen to me at Ross's. I found two outfits, I really liked, both were the same except a different pattern. I got charged the regular price on the first outfit, and $1 for the other.

Told the cashier as she checked me out and she said that's the price on the tag, $1.

It's common sense and simple arithmetic. Even a young person with no cashiering experience should have learned the concepts by the third grade to allow determining the answer with paper and pencil. What does he do when he's on the other side of a retail counter, assume the change he's given is correct?

I'd send the owner a short letter, telling him how much you enjoyed your lunch and meeting his son but saying that the sonny boy seemed a bit puzzled when making change for your tab. Suggest he maybe needs a bit more direction to understand how to handle it. You're doing him a favor by letting him know.

It seems odd that,knowing his own math skills, the man didn't keep a calculator at the register. Every phone has one anyway. I went into a restaurant where the computer system was down. They didn't use a POS system,so the actual tickets go going into the kitchen were handwritten. The only thing computerized was the register. They told me when I walked in that they couldn't take anymore orders,because they didn't know how to figure out the taxes. They were absolutely frantic. I showed them them a basic way of figuring tax. The state tax here in Alabama is 9%. So I told them to take the subtotal and multiply it by 1.09, and that would be the total amount owed.It was like trying to teach a snake to tap dance. They told me they were just going to wait until the computer started working again. I dont know if they just didnt believe me,or if they were just too lazy to want to have to figure out all the tickets the "old fashioned" way.These were the OWNERS mind you. A very nice couple about my age (30s) who had chosen to forget basic math skills and rely totally on a computer to do it for them. Technology is wonderful,but it's incidents like this that show it pitfalls. My lovely niece is 13, and can set up a computer and build you a website. You have a problem? She knows an app that's out there for it. When I needed help setting up the remote viewing of my security cameras, she took care of it in 30 minutes,and showed me how to do it WAY better than the stupid instructions thay came with the camera did. But the poor dear cannot figure out how to use a can opener. Not even the electric kind. Bless her heart.

I'm a firm believer that a well-rounded person needs to know "stuff"... maybe even things some might think of as trivial? May be mean in some people's eyes, but I have intentionally given really odd combos of money (paper and coins) in anticipation of a really odd combo of change.

Know how parents may spell in front of kid when they don't want them to know what they're talking about? I'm convinced that once the kids CAN spell, all you would need you be perfect cursive penmanship... cuz typical HS kid cannot read well written cursive. MANY cannot tell time on a clock with hands but HAVE to have a big, gaudy knock-off on their wrist that they can't even read?

Part of the problem is that teachers just do not have the TIME to teach this stuff because everything is SOOOO tied to standardized tests?!? Kids are clueless about practical math applications. NO idea about ounces, lbs, cups, feet, inches, etc. NO idea what 30% off means on a sale sign... they'll give you whatever you ask for... it's not their money after all!?! NO idea that while we're suffering in typical NJ summer heat/humidity... on other side of equator it's SNOWING... what do you mean you can go skiing in South America TODAY?? Actually corrected a certified teacher when she told class of 8th graders that porcupines can shoot their quills like in CARTOONS!?! I DID wait until after class and didn't embarrass her in front of kids.

amylou, I think it's probably easier in a small, unsophisticated place without a modern register to do it the way glenda describes, the price includes tax. There's nothing to figure when giving a customer a bill, it's just the flat amount shown on the menu or price tag. They just need to remember to nudge their prices up a bit so that the customer is (essentially) being charged for the tax

Then the calculation to pay over their sales tax with the required filing is easy, and usually done in such cases by whoever does the bookkeeping for the sales tax return. Here's a simple example, using easy numbers-

Total cash collected - $2180.

This is 109% of taxable sales (tax was stated to be included) , so 2180/1.09 = 2000. This is the amount of taxable sales that would produce total receipts of $2180.

2180 (total) - 2000 (amount that was calculated to be taxable sales) = $180, the amount of sales tax on sales, to be sent in

Proof - 2000 sales x 9% tax = 180.

Please tell me you didn't just tip $1.00!

Elmer, I agree it would be easier, but this particular establishment did not price their items like that. It was "this costs this much,plus tax" as most places do. I think that the way I showed them,that is,adding up the individual items and then multiplying by 1.09, was very simple way to total the orders. This is what we used to do when I worked at subway and our system went down. To me, the hardest part was having to go back in and enter all the orders for the day into the computer when it came back up. Very tedious,but necessary I suppose.

However,in this case, the blank look on their faces when being faced with the dire circumstance of not having a computer do the work for them was very telling. Perhaps they will consider a flat price/tax included pricing model just in case of future disasters. But unless there is an app to figure out what that flat price should be for the owners, I suspect that it will stay the same. And I'm sure that when the computer started working again,they forgot all about it.

Yes this happens way too often. Case in point, recent trip to a big box sports store. Woman in front of me bought a Nike item at 25%off. Cashier(looked to be high school age) says out loud"what's 25%of $30?" The customer reaches for her phone to access the calculator app. Oh for pity's sake. I respond ." It's $7.50." Cashier is surprised that I did that so quickly. It's not hard. You don't even have to dredge up the long forgotten times table. Half of 30 is 15. Half again of 15 is 7.50. Logic. Something children are not taught or exercise in public school. I shudder to think that these are the people who will be in charge of our care in the later years.

terilyn, I pay cash, and tip the waitress appropriately at the table.

In my area there are different tax charges: 5%, 9%, and 10% according where you live.

woodie, I LOVE Jeanne Roberston. She's such a wise soul and has a great outlook. I do happen to be Southern.

My son writes in cursive, knows what to expect in change, and can add up a tip. No point in disparaging all of the young because you come across an idiot. Idiots are everywhere and all ages, bless their hearts.

Bless their hearts :)

Was in Walmart, having small pieces of fabric cut. The process is, cut the fabric, use the hand gun to scan the UPC code at the end of the bolt, enter the amount of fabric purchased in decimal form, print the price label. There is a chart of yardage conversion to decimal taped to the table which she consulted.

So one of the fabrics was $4.97 cents a yard and I purchased half a yard. Ok. Ticket for half yard printed at $.02. I said, can't be right. (Also had another piece of fabric, different price, similar reduced pricing happening) she looks puzzled. I said, let's look at it this way...$4.97, round to $5...I bought half a yard, so it should just be under $2.50. Enters her calculations again into her hand gun thing ...reminding her that the half yard has to be entered as ".5".....same results as before. I said, nope...still wrong. Exasperated, she says, well..."there's about 8 yards left on the bolt and you were only buying half a yard, so that's why it's only .02. "

Almost threw up my hands and got fabric really cheap, but I persisted. I examined the label generated when she printed and unraveled that she had been entering the fabric amount of .5 as .005. Big "Ohhhhhhh!"

I see this happen occasionally when the computer doesn't tell them how much change to make. I give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they are flustered trying to hurry up and make change for an impatient customer with a line behind them, even if it's not the case. Not everyone's mind works the same way. I can do multi-variable calculus but I could not tell you which direction is north.

Here's a solution for you, chi. If you face west, straighten your right arm and then raise it up to shoulder level, it will be pointing to north!

lol, thanks for the laugh!

Unless I have a big geographic clue that I am familiar with, like an ocean or large mountain range, or if the sun is rising or setting, I have a very difficult time orienting myself. My husband has an amazing sense of direction. I have a hard time directing people around the neighborhood even though I've been here for years. It's very strange - I've been like this since I was a child.

You maybe could add one more chi... if you can remember before/after lunch and see where the sun is (since you know sunrise/sunset), you might be able to decipher east/west and then north/south from it. But only if the sun isn't straight overhead. I too have to think pretty hard about the cardinal and ordinal directions.

I'm a long time map user going back to prehistoric times and I always have a mental picture of where I am and where I'm going in map terms. These days with Google maps on smartphones and compass and GPS devices in cars, it's easier but still something I always keep a sense of. Maybe your husband is like that too.

Hey glenda, you can be a bit less obvious in disliking anything I say. But do as you wish, it says more about you than about me.

I think some people just have better directional sense. He can go somewhere once and a year later do it again without directions. It's baffling to me as I still get lost in my own area!

Lukkiirish, I'm no math wiz either, but I was drawn to English and grammer in school

Perhaps you meant grammar.

I love using paper maps. That way I can map out my whole trip instead of turn-by turn on the GPS. Online maps don't show the overall detail as paper maps. I need new maps, and I have no idea where to even get one.

It seems that the 'delete' button has been used. A couple of comments don't make sense.

Glenda, I want to commend you on the way you dealt with the situation. I heard my neighbor Once at a restaurant and she had the poor cashier (a girl about 18) almost in tears.

jasdip, just do a search for a free (your state) road map. That is what I did a few years ago when looking for a Michigan map....for free. :). Or if you have a Welcome Center near you.

The way I saw one person solve this problem was to hand back the 50 cents and then proceed to make change for $9.50 out of $20.

And then, there's the wise acre who pockets the 50 cents saying "thanks", treating it as a tip, and then proceeds to make change.

Jasdip, you might also try your local Chamber of Commerce. They often have maps available.

I too map it all out ahead of time jasdip. I use Google Maps and print it out. It's both the turn by turn, and the map itself.

I made the mistake of trying to GPS my way back to 231 in Florida rather than use the map, and that really didn't work. If anyone were to disagree, they'd have to not understand how hard it is to get to 231, and how many back roads, no matter what! it takes to get to it. From anywhere. I should've just back tracked from where I'd been to get to where I started. Live and learn.

A couple of weeks ago we went for a drive. I knew where I was going, but hubby turned the GPS on just to see where it would take us. A number of times she 'recalculated' because we didn't turn down the concession and across just to come back out on the highway again. We'd go crazy following her directions.

I have both a Garmin GPS and my iPhone that I have used to go places I wasn't familiar with. I have to say that I am liking my iPhone because it tells me the name of the street to turn on, not just "turn right" like Garmin does.

I do enjoy getting and looking at a road map. There's just something about it...........

Different people, of different age levels, have developed/are developing different kinds of skills.

Some years ago I was having teeth out at the local dental school.

When my student and the secretary were doing the accounting, it turned out that removing the first tooth in a quadrant cost $32.00, and $16.00 each for subsequent teeth in that quadrant, of which there had been four.

I said, "$96.00".

When they finished the calculating and came up with the figure, they looked at me with surprise and asked how I'd figured it out so quickly.

I said that the first tooth was $32.00, and that four times sixteen was the same as two times thirty two ... that one plus two, i.e. three thirties are ninety and that three twos are six: total, ninety six.

ole joyful

"MANY cannot tell time on a clock with hands but HAVE to have a big, gaudy knock-off on their wrist that they can't even read?"

My car (a 2013 model) has an analog clock. I love it.

"I have both a Garmin GPS and my iPhone that I have used to go places I wasn't familiar with. I have to say that I am liking my iPhone because it tells me the name of the street to turn on, not just "turn right" like Garmin does."

My car's navigation system says the names of the streets. But, as Jasdip mentioned, sometimes you can get taken on a very strange journey.

It could be that it's an example of the abominable state of education. But it could also be that the kid was not an idiot and simply got confused. It happens when you deal with the public. How many times I was training new, reasonably intelligent people and something happened where they just got confused, lost track of what was going on and needed a second. Especially when they were out of their normal element.