Know how to make change
August 5, 2008 by kellys
Filed under financial matters
So I went to the store the other day and had just gotten back from the bank. Normally, if you know me, stealing my purse will get you about $3 in change. But I gave the clerk a $100 bill. She had no idea how to make the change and had to call a supervisor. Am I missing something? Don’t you have to know how to subtract and add to graduate from jr high?
The moral of this story is to ALWAYS count your change and make sure you get the correct change. Don’t worry about offending someone. I have found that most cashiers can’t make change if they have to manually figure out your change.
That’s so sad/pathetic! I can’t believe the clerk couldn’t figure out how to make change!
Growing up, I worked at the local Dairy Queen where the owners made us not only make change, but count it back to the customer. It’s a lost art, but to this day, it is a skill that serves me well.
I think it’s really sad when I encounter a clerk who cannot make change or do simple math.
I’ve encountered the blank stare so many times when I’ve handed a clerk a bill, they’ve punched the payment amount into the cash register and then I say, “and I have the change, too.” That really seems to flummox some people, and they absolutely cannot figure out how much change to give back unless the computer tells them.
I don’t know if the education system has failed these people (not always teenagers) or if we’ve all become too reliant on computers instead of our own brains. Or maybe, some people just don’t have the mental capacity to make change from a $100 bill. That’s probably the saddest option.
I agree with Amy. It isn’t always teenagers. Grown men and women cannot make change. It’s sad really. Maybe they have become so dependent on computers and calculators to do the work for them. (And sometimes even that doesn’t guarantee your correct change….) I am going to have to keep my eye out in the future.
It’s true! I seen it happen over and over again. If the computer does not tell them how much to give the customer back, they are baffled. Once I went to a yard sale and the mom had her daughter giving out change, that little girl, around 8 or 9, did a better job giving out change than I have seen teen or young adults do! You really need to look over your reciepts and exspecially if you use coupons! I would say 1 out of 7 times you can find a mistake.
Isn’t that the truth? In college I had a cashier short change me and then argue that her math was correct. I realize I’m blonde, but I have passed several college calculus classes, thanks.
It’s also good practice to make sure everything is ringing up correctly–unfortunately it seems nearly every grocery trip I find something that rings up incorrectly. I got free lettuce for a week from Kroger because their policy is that it’s free if it rings up wrong, up to $5!
The old saying goes, Harvard Graduates do not aspire to be cashiers.
I had a bill one come out to 11.75, so I handed the cashier a Twenty and 2 singles. She immediately hands me back the 2 dollars, thinking I had made a mistake. When I say, no that this is so I can get “a ten” in change, they have to sit and scratch their head for a while before the math of the situation kicks in, but in the mean time, they look at me like I am out of my mind.
Scary, isn’t it. These people will be voting as well. UUGGHH!!