Calculator 10 x 18p

rjbell

rjbell

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Robert
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I popped to the pharmacy the other day for some sterile dressing plasters. They were 18p each I asked for 10. The shop assistant then fumbled under the desk for a while and out popped a calculator! :facepalm:
 
lol if it wasn't so sad it would be funny :)
 
I feel sorry for that assistant. The parents and education system have clearly failed which is sad for such basic calculations.

I love sitting down with my daughters and we do maths for fun. It is brilliant to see that light bulb go on and that they get it. I'm concerned at times about the systems employed and how schools go about it. But rather than confuse them I learned the new methods to stay ahead of them and help them along with the basic skills.
 
Was it a young assistant? I see jumping to conclusions already from someone :D Maybe it was an old assistant, who really does have trouble with basic calculations. Either way, you should write to the company involved, expressing concern instead of mocking :D
 
nickEnackEnoo said:
Was it a young assistant? I see jumping to conclusions already from someone :D Maybe it was an old assistant, who really does have trouble with basic calculations. Either way, you should write to the company involved, expressing concern instead of mocking :D
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No age was mentioned. Talk about jumping to conclusions ;) old or young, problem is with the parents and educational system to not have provided the basics.
 
She was younger 18 at a guess. I'm sure the penny dropped once I left and felt a bit silly.
 
Or was it a shop where the owner insists that they use calculators to avoid mistakes and checks the security cam footage?

Enquiring minds want to know.
 
We're you buying under the counter plasters? Wondering why they weren't going through the till, which would have calculated the total and provided the required record of the transaction.

I didn't realise there was such demand for medical supplies in the black economy...
 
Surprised the till in the shop couldn't add up to ten :)
 
Alastair said:
We're you buying under the counter plasters? Wondering why they weren't going through the till, which would have calculated the total and provided the required record of the transaction.

I didn't realise there was such demand for medical supplies in the black economy...
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lol yes they were under the counter plasters!
 
neil_g said:
Some people struggle with numbers.

Dyscalculia - the numerical version of dyslexia.
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Should they really be working in a shop at the tills? I would have thought there are plenty better suited jobs in that case.
 
dejongj said:
Should they really be working in a shop at the tills? I would have thought there are plenty better suited jobs in that case.
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Such as?

There aren't many jobs that don't depend on numbers. There's certainly no business that doesn't need a degree of numeracy or a coping strategy (e.g.a calculator).
 
Phil V said:
Is it only me?


So how much is it?:p
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Beat me to it, I was about to post, 13 posts and I'm still waiting for the answer :D
 
I ask again, why could she not just scan one and hit 10 for the amount?

Cobra/Phil 42 of course.
 
They were not barcoded. She rang it through the tills though.
 
Alastair said:
Such as?

There aren't many jobs that don't depend on numbers. There's certainly no business that doesn't need a degree of numeracy or a coping strategy (e.g.a calculator).
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Street sweeper to name one. I mean seriously?
 
dejongj said:
Street sweeper to name one. I mean seriously?
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They need to be able to work out his / her wages to make sure they have not been ripped off ;)
 
Cobra said:
They need to be able to work out his / her wages to make sure they have not been ripped off ;)
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And don't forget the complexities of the target based, community centred, results orientated self assessment form, to be completed after each shift.
 
The good news is that her age means she couldn't have been the duty pharmacist.
 
ROFLMAO What is going on today, is Monday the new Friday or something?
 
fabs said:
Why not?
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Because from the OP it is rather clear they aren't suited to the job ;) If I had a shop I wouldn't entertain that.
 
dejongj said:
Because from the OP it is rather clear they aren't suited to the job ;) If I had a shop I wouldn't entertain that.
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Why aren't they suited to the job? The tools provided (till & calculator) enable them to do the job so if, as Neil suggests, they have genuine difficulties with numbers but they have those tools, then denying them the opportunity is surely discrimination.
 
fabs said:
Why aren't they suited to the job? The tools provided (till & calculator) enable them to do the job so if, as Neil suggests, they have genuine difficulties with numbers but they have those tools, then denying them the opportunity is surely discrimination.
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If they need a calculator for that sum, then I have no faith that they would notice it if they hit the wrong key and get the wrong answer.
 
dejongj said:
If they need a calculator for that sum, then I have no faith that they would notice it if they hit the wrong key and get the wrong answer.
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Really? So, if they have a problem with mental arithmetic, you assume that they're too incompetent to operate a calculator? Discrimination based on assumption then.
 
fabs said:
Really? So, if they have a problem with mental arithmetic, you assume that they're too incompetent to operate a calculator? Discrimination based on assumption then.
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Absolutely, and proven many a time that people using a calculator with no ability to mentally verify whether the answer is correct, then hell yes they are in the wrong job. No discrimination involved at all. In fact I would have given them that test during the interview, just like I do with developers, technical architects, project managers.
 
dejongj said:
Absolutely, and proven many a time that people using a calculator with no ability to mentally verify whether the answer is correct, then hell yes they are in the wrong job. No discrimination involved at all. In fact I would have given them that test during the interview, just like I do with developers, technical architects, project managers.
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As I said, there's an assumption that difficulty with mental arithmetic implies that they are not competent enough to use a calculator. My wife suffers from this affliction. She runs a business and does her own accounts using Excel and a calculator, she has no problems in this regard.
 
fabs said:
As I said, there's an assumption that difficulty with mental arithmetic implies that they are not competent enough to use a calculator.
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No, that's not what he's saying at all.

The issue is that it's always easy, for any of us, to make mistakes using a calculator. Key sticks a bit, key registers twice, accidentally hit the wrong key, accidentally press two keys at the same time, that sort of thing. So how do you know whether you might have made a mistake? Most of the time, because the answer feels wrong. For example I just quickly tried to calculate 123 x 456 on my phone, and I got 557,688, and that just feels wrong. It's got too many digits.

So the assumption is that, if you need a calculator to work out 10 x 18, you very likely don't have enough of a feel for numbers to spot when you might have made a mistake. I think that's a very reasonable assumption.
 
StewartR said:
No, that's not what he's saying at all.

The issue is that it's always easy, for any of us, to make mistakes using a calculator. Key sticks a bit, key registers twice, accidentally hit the wrong key, accidentally press two keys at the same time, that sort of thing. So how do you know whether you might have made a mistake? Most of the time, because the answer feels wrong. For example I just quickly tried to calculate 123 x 456 on my phone, and I got 557,688, and that just feels wrong. It's got too many digits.

So the assumption is that, if you need a calculator to work out 10 x 18, you very likely don't have enough of a feel for numbers to spot when you might have made a mistake. I think that's a very reasonable assumption.
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Just because you struggle with numbers doesn't mean you think 2+2=37
 
StewartR said:
No, that's not what he's saying at all.

The issue is that it's always easy, for any of us, to make mistakes using a calculator. Key sticks a bit, key registers twice, accidentally hit the wrong key, accidentally press two keys at the same time, that sort of thing. So how do you know whether you might have made a mistake? Most of the time, because the answer feels wrong. For example I just quickly tried to calculate 123 x 456 on my phone, and I got 557,688, and that just feels wrong. It's got too many digits.

So the assumption is that, if you need a calculator to work out 10 x 18, you very likely don't have enough of a feel for numbers to spot when you might have made a mistake. I think that's a very reasonable assumption.
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Thank you, absolutely 100% how I meant my comments.

I really didn't think it had to be that hard to understand or be so argumentative.
 
I remember the "uproar" when calculators where being introduced into schools, as a matter of course, late 60's I think.
and then latterly being allowed into maths exams.
The pro argument was "you need to be able to do basic maths to use one"
As @StewartR has just proved.
 
fabs said:
So disagreeing with you is argumentative? ok then.
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Oh come on, again taken a bit of a dramatic extrapolation to what I said. But hey if you are happy to employ people who take money for you who can't calculate be my guest, I'll employ those who can.
 
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