After realizing the cats were nearly out of kitty litter, I ventured over to Pets Unlimited to pick up a few bags. I walked back to the kitty litter section and picked up two bags, each 40 lbs or 18.18 kg. I think one of these days I'm going to regret picking up two bags at once because I'll probably throw out my back or something and have a really cool story to tell people about how I did it. (sarcasm).
Well, lugging it to the cash register paled in comparison to the agony of standing there as the cashier tried to figure out what planet she was on (again sarcasm). Pets Unlimited has a fancy touch screen cash register and all the bells and whistles to basically allow the cashier to act like a monkey pressing buttons to get the job done with very little brain stress. This is what technology can help us do...I'm not even sure it's a good thing in this case. Here is the math problem.
2 bags of kitty litter at $9.99 each. So you would take $9.99 and multiply it by two to get the subtotal which would be $19.98 but that's not the end. I was not paying much attention to the price and she requested $19.98 from me as the total so I handed her a $20. She then pressed a total button on the register and the total came up as $22.78 because of the HST of 14%. As she punched in that the money given in was $20, the register gave a balance of -$2.78 because I had given her $20. No problem I thought, here's another $5.00 but there is where her meltdown began. The computer now won't let her type in a new amount so she's going to have to do this one in her head and so it began.....
I could tell she was struggling and I understand how some people can be worked up in a retail environment under minimal pressure and I thought I'd help her out and let her know that I should have $2.22 in change. I thought this was relatively simple but I guess not. She was unsure and unwilling to take me at my word and had to figure this out. Maybe I looked like a shady character that day like so many other kitty-litter bandits. I'm just trying to help.
Here are some of the problem solving strategies used. First comes the counting on the fingers....and then looking up at the ceiling for answers....then turning a different shade in the face (bright red)....then the sigh of frustration...then the frantic "look-around" for a manager to help. It seemed like a paradox was occurring where the harder she tried, the worse she did. After two minutes, she was no further ahead.
Being a teacher, I thought maybe this was a teachable moment and walked her through the process. I explained why the total of $19.98 was incorrect because of the taxes not being applied and a lightbulb came on temporarily as now this part of the catastrophe was cleared up. The problem was with how much change I should receive. I had given her $25 and the total was $22.78...how much change should I receive? Can you do it without the aid of a computer or calculator? If you could...great...if you couldn't....neither could she. I politely said it should be $2.22 and thought I'd be on my way. She had to be sure and out came the calculator and I'm not sure she had really used one before...at least not since junior high. The first total she came up with on the calculator was $47.78 and that nearly made her cry. I mentioned again that the change should be $2.22 and still reluctant with that we took $25.00 and subtracted $22.78 and magically the number read $2.22 and she was stunned. "Hey...you're right!" she said. She then told me she was sorry and that she was not any good at math. I said it was no big deal, smiled, got the change and was on my way.
On my way out i was thinking "Why is she a cashier?" and then rather than this being a teachable moment it became a moment of realization. There are children, young people, and adults out there who have never really learned many of the basics of mathematics, especially real world math. Whether that is a fault of the school system, parents, the students themselves, or the technology that is used as a crutch without understanding......I know that it is a problem. As a teacher, and I am not all teachers, I strive to give students knowledge, practice, and applicable use of the content and skills we focus on in class. Of course, not all teachers do this, not all parents spend time with their children on homework ensuring they are practicing what they should, and certainly not all students care about their education and developing skills and understanding that will be useful in the future. Young people, pay attention in school, try to learn, work at it if it's hard, ask for help if you don't understand so that in the future you don't have to feel embarrassed, ashamed, or lost when it comes to situations like these. Don't be a sorry cashier.
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