Do People Not Do Maths Any More At School?

[BAKERS DOZEN]

Went to get my Sunday papers this morning from the corner shop and the owner was training a new lad on how to use the till. My papers were £1.40 and £1.70 so a total of £3.10. Trying to be helpful I offered him a £5 note and a 10p piece. He stared at the money in my hand for such a long time that I was beginning to think that I had added it up incorrectly and then the light came on in his eyes. "Oh I see what you are trying to do" he said "So now you only want £1.80 in change". What??? I said that I would like £2 change please and got another long stare. The owner said I had confused the lad (who was aged 22-25 say) and if I'd just given him the £5 note then the till would have worked out the correct change. I despair. What will they do when there is a power cut and the electric tills don't work?

[ummmm]

My daughter was complaining of the exact same thing the other day. One of the girls she works with just can't figure it out.

[Gizmonster]

You'll always get people who are illiterate or can't add up .... what bothers me here, is that the owner was letting this guy loose on the till, without a simple grasp of adding and subtracting, which is what this basically is.
If I was going to employ someone in my shop (assuming I had one), I'd give the prospective employee a simple test, to make sure they were up to the job, irrespective of whether I had a fancy till that worked it all out.

[Islay]

They spend so long teach enhanced maths that simple addition, multiplication etc seem to be brushed over!

[donny48]

Surely if the lad had entered £5.10 then the till would still have tolm him the correct change, I don't understand the owners point .

[dannyk13]

Probably use their calculators.

[bookbinder]

Schools rely too much on computers to save them teaching the pupils how to use their brains.

[Baldric]

Oh BD how could you, young people are our future, we will be putting ourselves in their hands at some stage.
Bloody worrying isn't it?

[Jackdaw33]

I'll tell you what they will do, what they did to me. "Sorry, the computer's down, I can't serve you". Imagine a sole trader adopting that attitude.

[ummmm]

Giz - the tills do the work for them and now they are used for stock taking etc...

[donny48]

Is mental arithmetic taught as a separate subject now, when I try to explain it I get the blank stare.

[B00]

To be fair JD, if the product has to be scanned then no, they wouldn't be able to serve them.

We can't in ours if that happens.

[Baldric]

ummmm, do they have a built in allowance for shop lifting?

[Sqad]

Aged 22-25, working at the corner shop?
He isn't going to be the brightest bulb in the box.
A teacher trying to teach him ANYTHING would have been an uphill struggle. so don't blame the education system.

[Zacs-Master]

Why do we need mental arithmetic tho, Bakers dozen? Would you know how to fix your car if it broke down?

[Baldric]

Thinks Granville,

[Baldric]

Zacs, would he?

[BAKERS DOZEN]

Think the lad is yet another member of the extended family that runs our corner shop. He is probably cheap or free labour but I'd be concerned about my profits with him behind the counter.

[Zacs-Master]

Eh?

[Zacs-Master]

That was to Baldric.

[ummmm]

Baldric - what does that comment mean?