Basic maths competence

T

TarfHead

Registered User
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I was in the Post Office earlier today to send off an item. The official behind the desk advised that the cost of postage was 82 cent so I handed her a €5 note in payment.

She pulled out a calculator to figure out how much the change should be.

I would be embarrassed if my 9yo son couldn't do that in his head, let alone an adult who deals in hundreds of such transactions every day.

 
TarfHead said:
I would be embarrassed if my 9yo son couldn't do that in his head, let alone an adult who deals in hundreds of such transactions every day.
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That's probably why she uses a calculator. If you're doing this all day, it would be very easy to make a mistake. We're all human.
 
Or maybe it's the customers who can't do it in their head, and trust the machine more than the official.
 
Maybe her job spec does not specifically include the line "do simple sums in your head".
 

Are you sure it wasn't a calculator with a printed output in case you wanted a receipt? Posted a bunch of stuff in my local PO this morning and the person behind the counter totted them up on a calculator than asked when I was paying if I wanted a receipt.
 

Have you considered that she might be embarrassed herself?

People with numeracy and literacy difficulties find it hard enough to overcome their situation without being subject to condescension from other parties. Difficulty with numbers might also be a symptom of dyslexia.

A bit of tolerance and the benefit of the doubt might be in order. It's not as though you actually GOT the wrong change.
 
Personally I don't see the problem. Just because she used it doesn't mean she can't do basic maths.
 
I use to work in a large accounts office - millions being paid out every week. After a while you wouldn't even add 2 + 2 in your head.

By the way an Post aren't on a WTR.
 

I would struggle with that. I can only do the most basic maths (e.g 2+2=4, 10-5=5 etc) in my head and would almost always need a calculator or my fingers in an emergency. Numeracy problems are VERY common. I don't see anything wrong with using the tools available to her to ensure she gave the correct change.

A bit of tolerance wouldn't go astray. Numeracy difficulties don't mean someone is stupid or badly educated. I hope your son never has any form of learning difficulty or if he does, that he gets support rather than ridicule.
 
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What utter nonsense. Where is the evidence that the clerk concerned had numeracy / literacy problems? If she had numeracy problems, the initial sum €5.00 - €0.82 = €4.18, where she apparently used the calculator, is actually the easiest part of the number problem facing her. The next part, making up the change, for example, 2 X €2 coins, 1 each of the €0.10, €0.05, €0.02, €0.01 coins is potentially the toughest problem to solve. In any case, using a calculator requires numeracy skills to get it to do the calculation in the first place.

If the woman had numeracy problems, why was she in a job that has a high requirement for number skills? It's akin to asking someone with vertigo to work as a steeplejack or someone with a severe pollen allergy to work as a gardener. It makes no sense.

It's reaching a stage now where any innocent comment or expression of surprise or disappointment is challenged as being disrespectful or by an accusation of intolerance of some disability, real or imagined.
 

I'm in a job that requires "number skills". As I have difficulties with numeracy, should I be sacked? Would that make more sense? Or is okay for me to use a calculator to ensure I do my job properly?

The original post implied that the poster had made an assumption, indicated in particular with a. Its perfectly acceptable to challenge that assumption, so less of the outrage that other posters have a different opinion. I reiterate my previous point: A bit of tolerance wouldn't go astray.
 
It's reaching a stage now where any innocent comment or expression of surprise or disappointment is challenged as being disrespectful or by an accusation of intolerance of some disability, real or imagined.
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I think what people are reacting to is the critical attitude. Really, who cares if she used a calculator . . .not everyone would react like Tarfhead, whose comments I interpret as "she's dumber than my nine year old" which I think is a bit mean, but honestly who cares - it's not like Tarfhead actually insulted the post office worker over it.
 
mathepac said:
What utter nonsense. Where is the evidence that the clerk concerned had numeracy / literacy problems?.
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There's none of course. Equally, there's no evidence that she hadn't. Regardless, if she needed a calculator, she was right to use one. If the OP had got the wrong change, he'd have something real to give about.

mathepac said:
It's reaching a stage now where any innocent comment or expression of surprise or disappointment is challenged as being disrespectful or by an accusation of intolerance of some disability, real or imagined.
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All comments should be open to challenge. That's the point of a public forum. That you might be upset with the line taken is just unfortunate.
 
what I find most interesting is the number of people defending the counter attendant and how few agree with tarfhead.

Once we take this kind of thing for granted and treat is as unremarkable then it can easily become the norm.

Tarfhead is right - it is worthy of remark that somebody who's job it is to handle money day in day out had need of a mechanical aid to subtract 82c from a fiver. Nothing shameful in highlighting it.
 
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