The "dumbening"

[Syndrome]

Yesterday I purchased my prescription medicine at the local chemist. The price was $13.90. As I often do to reduce the amount of coins in my wallet, I spend them whenever it is practical to do so. In this situation I gave them 1 two dollar coin, 2 one dollar coins (and told them to take $3.90 out of that) and then a $50 dollar note. Thus I was to receive $40.10 change. Within 5 seconds I realised something was wrong as they had a confused look on their face. Then they grab a calculator to determine the change. FFS. Even if a person is unable to perform basic mathematics they just need to enter $54 in the computer which will automatically determine the amount of change.

WTF is going on with our education system? This is one of several similar instances I've experienced with the younger folk. This generation are for the tip! No wonder they are confused about their gender.

[rare ss]

That's a bridge way too far, the local macca's window couldn't work out why I gave them $10.50 for a $5.50 order

[jaydee]

...and don't get me started about spelling and grammar, which really isn't as important as basic maths.

[1970XW351]

Had a similar situation in Target the other day. Item cost $12, so I handed over a $50 note and $2 coin. The young lass struggled for a few moments, pulled $45 out of the drawer and looked from it to the screen, to me and back again about four times. Eventually I put her out of her misery and gave her the answer.

It truly boggles the mind.
You would imagine a working understanding of basic maths would be a prerequisite for a job dealing with money... Kind of something that might be tested in the interview process?

[Polyal]

Guys when do you want them to get the experience? I get what you are saying but from their POV they dont get pocket money, they hardly even physically touch cash which sounds more like what this topic is about than maths skills.

Skills etc change with the times, I havent even had a wallet for coins for nearly 10 years at least.

Almost everything these days is tap.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Happens all the time.

I bought a coffee recently and it was $5.50, I gave her 10.50 expecting $5 in change, she looked confused and said, 'you gave me too much it's only 5.50'

I replied that she needs to give me $5 change and all will be right.

She looked even more confused and gave me the 50 cents back and then proceeded to get $4.50 out of the register which she also handed to me.

I said you could have just given me a $5 note, her reply was 'we don't do that here.'

I think she thought she was being scammed, but could not figure out why.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Guys when do you want them to get the experience? I get what you are saying but from their POV they dont get pocket money, they hardly even physically touch cash which sounds more like what this topic is about than maths skills.

Skills etc change with the times, I havent even had a wallet for coins for nearly 10 years at least.

Almost everything these days is tap.

It's basic mathematics, and it's not getting taught properly any more, same with spelling.

I have kids in their late teens and early 20's I had to teach them the difference between, there, their, they're and how to use them in a sentence, as well as lots of other basic grammar and spelling.

They never learned their times tables properly, yet they studied Mongolia and other useless rubbish.

Not using cash is the next issue....

[Ratmick]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Guys when do you want them to get the experience? I get what you are saying but from their POV they dont get pocket money, they hardly even physically touch cash which sounds more like what this topic is about than maths skills.

Skills etc change with the times, I havent even had a wallet for coins for nearly 10 years at least.

Almost everything these days is tap.

The Asian community still works predominantly on cash. It's changing with the second generation who were born and raised here (and especially with their kids) but the ones that came over on tiny boats in the 80s still do the folding stuff...

...this is fine, however if your better half is one of these people from the 80s and she takes you to cafes and restaurants in her community you learn pretty quickly that you sometimes need cash.

...and yeah learnt that the hard way

[1970XW351]

They might not have the experience with money in their personal lives, but surely it falls to the employer to ascertain if they have the required skills and train them adequately for their job?

[FTE217]

Its not up to the employers though to teach them basic skills in mathhs or english.

I hear you Polyal that the times change perspective, its has since the roman numeral days but they before us learnt from gen to gen changes so are we to be leniant today ?
XB GS hit the nail - modern day schooling has gone to the weeds, wokeism, gender, politics etc is far more important that actual schooling.
IF it wasn't for the massive Asian migrants the last 20yrs our Education system would be way way way further down the rankings thatn it currently stands low enough as it is.
My youngest daugther graduated last year, (I don't expect her to be a oxford scolar) her whole Snr school experience has been a waste of years.
Teachers/the system can't even dicipline obvious terrible behaviour anymore, thats one basic that has ruined teaching for everyone for students have no fear anymore nor care.
Even my daughter's skill is up the weeds as Syndrome reports.
IF it weren't for tech doing all the figuring out these gens are hopeless for not everyday will wifi/internet be online then what do they do, the world stops.

Times are changing ? yes ofcourse but does that mean you change the basic principles of day to day living re survival let alone basic ABC/123.
These precious entitled gens - we should send them out in the wild naked like that netflix show
Give them the experience of living with feck all, improvise and survive
Yes you to my lovely daughter (but not naked) haha

[Polyal]

Guys Ive got 4 rugrats and yes pending which one I am shocked at some of the gaps in schooling, particularly when you go public, then throw in rural areas.

But again if everyone is tapping (im sorry it must be true for >90% of transactions) then they dont deal with excess money given to make the change "easier" to manage.

Totally onboard with base skills, but even that changes over time. Ill pre-empt your call on when the system falls over. All true but good luck changing that now. It would take WW3 to go back. And by the time that happens there wont be many mints left stamping coins.

If employers want they can test/screen but they dont have the time for that, just learn the hard way and they rely on the basics of the system to give that grounding. I dont deny that the quality may be falling but are we just seeing that through our aging glasses?

[kevino]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Guys Ive got 4 rugrats and yes pending which one I am shocked at some of the gaps in schooling, particularly when you go public, then throw in rural areas.

But again if everyone is tapping (im sorry it must be true for >90% of transactions) then they dont deal with excess money given to make the change "easier" to manage.

Totally onboard with base skills, but even that changes over time. Ill pre-empt your call on when the system falls over. All true but good luck changing that now. It would take WW3 to go back. And by the time that happens there wont be many mints left stamping coins.

If employers want they can test/screen but they dont have the time for that, just learn the hard way and they rely on the basics of the system to give that grounding. I dont deny that the quality may be falling but are we just seeing that through our aging glasses?

There is a group of young guys in Tugun-coolangatta GC who take the **** out of this people not getting cash right.

They all have mullets and you know fit the bill.

One of thier many efforts on Tik Tok /Facebook memes.

Mullet guy goes into Officeworks to buy $10 item
Goes to cash register.
Person on cash register says tap here.
Mullet guy says i ve got $10 note holding in his hand.
Staffer calls up manager on loudspeaker and intercom -we ve got someone paying cash.

Manager arrives -flustered confused.

Transaction processed and store employee gives mullet man $5 note.


Very droll

[351buzz]

I went through Macca's drive through once and tried to pay with one of those round 50 cent pieces (i know they are worth more than 50cents, but it was what i had).
Needless to say it didn't past muster and i got told can't accept that, no coffee for me.

[lra]

Nothing unusual about giving younger people cash / change for purchase, and they just don't know what to do, as maths and a handful of coins are just so ....... ummm..... much foreign to their little world of handheld social media.

Some time ago, I went to our local bakehouse, and stood in line behind some older primary school kids who were buying morning essentials, Coke and sausage rolls etc.
All of them paid with their phone, no idea of the cost or asking for a receipt.
How are they supposed to know the cost of items when they pay like that. Suppose Mum & Dad just top up the phone with whatever as required.
This prompted a discussion with myself and the counter attendant as to the lack of basic skills with school kids. She agreed with my astonishment of their method of payment.

No wonder we have a 'cost of living crisis' ............ young people just don't know cash or prices. It all happens on a phone or a card.

[ford71V8]

Yep, even when 'tapping' you should still be using the old Maths skills to identify when the total is off.
I walk arond Bunnings picking up bits and pieces and when I get to the counter I am expecting a rough number.

[Polyal]

So you are suggesting people that tap do not keep track? That is a little odd as actually its much easy to track with the app instead of leaving a couple hundred in your wallet?

Feels like there is multiple topics in this thread, not just the ability to count cash.

All my kids >12 have a debit card, get a small allowance and thats it...they need to learn to budget and some learn the hard way and others are actually quite good at saving. I suspect the trick is to not give them too much.

[T3rminator]

Retailers need a special line for coin users. Time is money. Tap the damn thing. Resistance is futile!

Next time, take out your coin pouch, pour all the coins on the counter, then ask the check out person to count it for you. Happens all the time at Aldi....during lunch hour, when you are in a hurry. .

[PG2]

Are people blaming the kids or our generation that has allowed the system not to teach kids the principles of handling money?

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Guys when do you want them to get the experience? I get what you are saying but from their POV they dont get pocket money, they hardly even physically touch cash which sounds more like what this topic is about than maths skills.

Skills etc change with the times, I havent even had a wallet for coins for nearly 10 years at least.

Almost everything these days is tap.

Im the same, no room in any wallet for coins for me for a long time.

I know with our systems at work and id imagine a lot of other places. If a customer pays folding, all thats needed is what the customer hands over so if they are paying more to get just notes back/even change, key it in and it'll tell you on the screen what change you need, although in most instances its basic maths that they'd probably should have learned at school (surely basic math is still taught at school). The whole paying with phones and watches though although the same as paying with card is strange when you say to the customer 'just on the card'

It shouldnt be up to the employer to teach team basic mathematics i dont think.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by T3rminator

Retailers need a special line for coin users. Time is money. Tap the damn thing. Resistance is futile!

Next time, take out your coin pouch, pour all the coins on the counter, then ask the check out person to count it for you. Happens all the time at Aldi....during lunch hour, when you are in a hurry. .

What's baffling in this situation is that when the checkout operator tells the customer how much they owe, its like a complete surprise that money has to change hands. The customer than spends what seems like 45 minutes fishing for a wallet or purse, then rummages through looking for the "correct" change, then can't find the coins they are looking for, dumps it all on the counter and proceeds to count every coin as if its their last. Previous to that, they have stood there daydreaming or making mindless small talk about irrelevant topics as the operator scans their items............instead of getting their money ready.

[.:4:.]

Yeah it's funny sometimes paying with cash, example being earlier this year when a bought a laptop for $1248 with 10 100s and 5 pineapples. Granted the young lady at the desk didn't have any problem working out the $2 of change, but i dont think she had seen any not larger then a pineapple in her life. Best one was the chaos of when optus went down, so eftpos in many places went down. Yes i tap and go 99% of the time, but i do keep some cash in my wallet. People were going full end of the world. I was thinking towards the other customers just eff off and start grabbing all the poo tickets and let me pay. Yes its deffinately very much a cashless society these days. But still its usefull having a little on you for tech fails.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by FTE217

XB GS hit the nail - modern day schooling has gone to the weeds, wokeism, gender, politics etc is far more important that actual schooling.

While this is not modern-day education, I think the following story still relates.

When I started high school in 1999, my English teacher that year had just made the move from a primary to a secondary educator. She was a hard task master, but her experience teaching children the basics of general reading and writing skills was clearly evident as she placed a massive emphasis on it in her lessons. After year 7, I had a string of other English teachers that did nothing of the sort.

In year 11, I once again had this teacher for English. Owing to her hard task master reputation, I was apprehensive about having her as a teacher again. But...............it was a MASSIVE blessing in disguise. Once again, I had a teacher who put a big emphasis on grammar, spelling and general sentence structure. I credit this woman for teaching me how "write", which has gone on to help me in my professional life as well as writing about my interests.

Our paths have crossed a few times since then, I have even thanked her for what she taught me and how important it has been in my life. Good teachers are like that, they challenge you to reach higher. A bad teacher, and I had a few, simply hand out pieces of paper and walk away.

I mention this story because from what I can tell, teaching basic reading and writing skills seems to end after grade 6. To me, this is more slanted towards the education curriculum rather than the specific teachers themselves. They get told what to teach in a very rigid way. The result being kids leaving school with poor reading, writing and mathematical skills.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by .:4:.

Yeah it's funny sometimes paying with cash, example being earlier this year when a bought a laptop for $1248 with 10 100s and 5 pineapples. Granted the young lady at the desk didn't have any problem working out the $2 of change, but i dont think she had seen any not larger then a pineapple in her life. Best one was the chaos of when optus went down, so eftpos in many places went down. Yes i tap and go 99% of the time, but i do keep some cash in my wallet. People were going full end of the world. I was thinking towards the other customers just eff off and start grabbing all the poo tickets and let me pay. Yes its deffinately very much a cashless society these days. But still its usefull having a little on you for tech fails.

I'm just about the same. 99% of my purchases are on a card, but I do keep cash on me and at home just in case. I do realise there is a technology barrier for older generations, but paying on a card is vastly quicker and easier than dealing with cash, so I don't know why they resist it so much.

[.:4:.]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

I'm just about the same. 99% of my purchases are on a card, but I do keep cash on me and at home just in case. I do realise there is a technology barrier for older generations, but paying on a card is vastly quicker and easier than dealing with cash, so I don't know why they resist it so much.

It must be the middle ground of being 37. Young enough to know how to use technology, old enough to carry and not lose your mind when technology goes down.

[Jastel]

I get its frustrating but...

How many of the people complaining here about the young incompetents can saddle a horse or milk a cow or kill an animal to feed themselves?
The above were common daily chores once.

Each generation learns what they need to survive.

[Charliewool]

“Rounding” also goes out the window with tap/card…
Say $60.02 fuel.. Cash it’s 60 bucks, tap it’ll be the extra 2 cents.
Minuscule, but in the big picture?

[Fatbob103]

Correct punctuation and grammar is the difference between
"I helped my Uncle Jack , off a horse" and "I helped my uncle jack off a horse.".

[mad2]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

I do realise there is a technology barrier for older generations, but paying on a card is vastly quicker and easier than dealing with cash, so I don't know why they resist it so much.

i have no real issue paying by card [except when you get slugged by fees] as i no longer really have much in the way of cash on me nowadays.

[Jastel]

I had the slowest, most untrained and incompetent useless cashier at the shops today.
I refuse to use the self checkout ever again....

[Itsme]

Now you know why the younger gen embrace a cashless society, so easy with a card if you are no good at math's, money confuses them.