From Not Always Right: When Life Skills Are 106% Defective
As a cashier in a small convenience garage (gas station), I get a lot of children from the neighbouring schools. A lot of kids now have their own debit cards, and occasionally, I get the odd kid who doesn’t understand when the card declines. But by far the most noticeable difference between these kids and me when I was their age is that they have no clue how to count change. When I state the total due, they will look at the handful of change that they have in bewilderment and then hand me all of it to count it out for them.
I had one young customer who was totally confused by what I was asking him for. For an idea of what I mean, I often say, “oh,” where the zero goes when saying the cash amount. His total for his candy was £1.06.
Me: “That comes to one-oh-six, please.”
Boy: “What?”
Me: “One pound and six pence please.”
Boy: “What do you mean?”
Me: “Your total comes to one pound and six pence.”
Boy: “Sorry, but I have no idea what you mean.”
I take all the change from his hand.
Me: “You have to give me one full pound and six pence.”
I show him the pound, a five-pence coin, and a penny.
Me: “See? One pound…” points to the coin “…and a five pence and a penny make the total of money that I need for the till. Okay? One-oh-six.”
He shakes his head in confusion and walks away.
Boy: Mumbling “I have no idea what happened…”
He was at least seventeen years old, and it just baffled me that he hadn’t got a clue how to count change. The “one-oh-six” thing is often used over here in stores, so I can’t say that is why he was confused.
NOT my story although I did once work in a convenience store, , , , for all of 2 weeks!
Due to his having MS, my late husband was in a wheelchair. We would occasionally cross paths with a child in a stroller. I could tell by the way they’d study him, that they wondered why a grown up was in a stroller .
Yakety Sax 5 months ago
From Not Always Right: When Life Skills Are 106% Defective
As a cashier in a small convenience garage (gas station), I get a lot of children from the neighbouring schools. A lot of kids now have their own debit cards, and occasionally, I get the odd kid who doesn’t understand when the card declines. But by far the most noticeable difference between these kids and me when I was their age is that they have no clue how to count change. When I state the total due, they will look at the handful of change that they have in bewilderment and then hand me all of it to count it out for them.
I had one young customer who was totally confused by what I was asking him for. For an idea of what I mean, I often say, “oh,” where the zero goes when saying the cash amount. His total for his candy was £1.06.
Me: “That comes to one-oh-six, please.”
Boy: “What?”
Me: “One pound and six pence please.”
Boy: “What do you mean?”
Me: “Your total comes to one pound and six pence.”
Boy: “Sorry, but I have no idea what you mean.”
I take all the change from his hand.
Me: “You have to give me one full pound and six pence.”
I show him the pound, a five-pence coin, and a penny.
Me: “See? One pound…” points to the coin “…and a five pence and a penny make the total of money that I need for the till. Okay? One-oh-six.”
He shakes his head in confusion and walks away.
Boy: Mumbling “I have no idea what happened…”
He was at least seventeen years old, and it just baffled me that he hadn’t got a clue how to count change. The “one-oh-six” thing is often used over here in stores, so I can’t say that is why he was confused.
NOT my story although I did once work in a convenience store, , , , for all of 2 weeks!
i_am_the_jam 5 months ago
I had to carry my dad in his final days.
goboboyd 5 months ago
In both cases, they want flames painted on the sides.
Alberta Oil Premium Member 5 months ago
Kind of depressing isn’t it.
daisypekin01 5 months ago
isn’t it more of a polygon of life?
cuzinron47 5 months ago
You come in wearing diapers, and you go out wearing them.
christelisbetty 5 months ago
Due to his having MS, my late husband was in a wheelchair. We would occasionally cross paths with a child in a stroller. I could tell by the way they’d study him, that they wondered why a grown up was in a stroller .