Years ago, there was a middle aged man at a local hardware store, and Lord knows he wasn't any good at all with the computers, and he had no confidence. As time went by, I saw him slowly but steadily improve, until in a few years, he had become one of the regular employees.

I stopped in to that store many years later. He was the only old timer left, and the most knowledgeable guy in the store. He was not a super bright guy, but he remembered things, and he was diligent.

Conversely, I have known some very, very, bright people who make some pretty stupid and egotistical assumptions. I also know some very bright people who come up with some very complicated solutions to some very simple problems.

Consider how stupid the average person is, and then consider that half of the population is dumber than that. I have a lot more patience for someone who is not very bright than I have for someone who is simply obstinate or opinionated. Still, I don't get my esteem from judging others.

My Grandfather was not in his own opinion a very smart man, but in my opinion, he was one of the wisest men I have ever known, and a patient and persistent instructor. I think about him and the things he said often.

Nobody gets through life without learning something. Still, if you asked those who know us the best, there are probably some things that they wish WE would figure out.

I told a clerk at an autoparts store I needed six "NGK9C" spark plugs. He said "make and model". I said doesn't matter, I need six NGK9C plugs, he said something stupid like "I have to look it up." WTF?

Reminds me of a time I went to Subway. When it got to the toppings part, I tell the girl behind the counter "Lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and black olives please".
She puts the lettuce on, stops, looks up at me with a quizzical look. I say "tomatoes, pickles and black olives". She puts the tomatoes on, again stops and looks at me.
Me getting a little frustrated "pickles and black olives". And don't you know after she put the pickles on, stops and looks at me. For crying out loud BLACK OLIVES!

Well said...

No credit if you don't show your work!

Cuz it's some big secret what you're buying them for 👳

Amen to that. "The world needs ditch diggers too". Mental capacity aside, I respect anyone that gets up every day and goes to work.

The issue here is that you were much below his usual orders. 1/2 pound must be the lowest. I am sure he can do 1/2 pound increments.

If the guy was half way smart, he sure would not work at the meat counter. He'd have a real job.

I once read a job ad right after coming to the US from Europe: "Hiring construction workers. Need to be good in math, need to be able to read tape measure." I thought it was very funny ... until I started projects trying to use a standard measurement tape. WTF! And it goes on. 4 quarts to the gallon, 16 ounces to the pound, 12 inches to the foot etc. etc. - no wonder this is such a mess. Fractions too, if you ever pick up a wrench ... Is 9/16 bigger than 5/8 or 3/4? I am good at math, so it doesn't take much thinking until you get used to it, but I can see why people struggle ...

To this day, when I do anything more precise than coarse carpentry work, the 2m measurement stick comes out ... it works a lot better than friggin' tape too!

G

http://www.prometrix.de/wp/wp-conten..._metermass.jpg

As depressing as future generations appear, there's always a bright side.

My son is a wiz at calculus and loves math and the sciences, so even though the world will suck he will have very little (local) competition.

I'm going to take a little exception to that.

One of my ex's worked in Deli's exclusively.

Exceptionally bright girl, hot to boot.

Severely dyslexic to the point you might consider her illiterate.

It was not picked up until she was a Junior in HS and by then it was too late. She'd always been labeled as lazy, trouble, defiant, whatever.

But she was great at her job, real hard worker, great with customers to the point that if you hired her your business improved simply because she was in the building.

She remembered everyones name, how they took their coffee, their favorite sandwich, laughed at every stupid joke, she could make everyone feel special.

Everyone has a story and we should not make assumptions about them before we hear their story.

A rather judgmental post considering you know nothing of his circumstances.

If he shows up for work everyday and gets paid he has a "real job"..

Mike,

If you were seriously interested, you might try the guy with, "A quarter coin is a quarter of a dollar. It is 25 cents. A quarter of a pound is point 2 5 pounds."
Everyone learns in different ways. It can be frustrating for us, but imagine how frustrating it is for him.
Where I work, I get to explain the workings of a power plant to people who might not even understand why you would use magnets and coils to generate electricity. It has given me a better appreciation for the tools some have to make it through life.
We are darned lucky.

Best
Les

That one irritates me.

My boy likes Subway.

6 inch Italian bread with Tuna, nothing else, just Tuna.

Every time I go in I order exactly like that, 6 inch Italian bread with Tuna, nothing else, just Tuna.

Every single time they put the Tuna on the bread and ask, any lettuce?

No, just Tuna, nothing else.

Any cheese?

NO!!!!! Just Tuna.

Olives, pickles, dressing?

NO!!!! JUST TUNA NOTHIG ELSE!!!

Really that's it?

YES!!!!!! That's it.

I swear they do it on purpose and probably laugh after I leave the store.

i was in a resaturant yesterday and the waitress brought back change to my friend and it was $5 short, but she took off the .11 from the bill. she broguht him his 5 and said she just rounds it off because she is reallyt bad with math.

i was sitting in a chic filet. there was a very beautiful girl behind, maybe early 20's. the guy she was with was explaning percentages the entire time i was there.

LOL a repost from earlier this year:

Now listen here, you American smart-ass! Us Canadians are used to working in both metric and imperial, but the prowess displayed by your son is really something else. I don't appreciate being shown up like that! :)

It would've taken me at least 2 or 3 minutes and a google search to find the # of oz in a lb (oz are a pretty uncommon measurement here, at least for anyone under 50 or 60) to do that kind of conversion. I'm actually really impressed - I didn't think most Americans knew metric at all, beyond 2L bottles. We only really know imperial because of our parents, and my kids' generation will probably not know much of it at all.

(Funny case in point: when I was a kid my parents had a fahrenheit thermometer in the pool, but weather has always been expressed in celsius, including the thermometer that was outside our kitchen window. To this day water temp in celsius means nothing to me, and air temp in fahrenheit means nothing to me :) )

The young intern's head would explode if he ever stumbled onto a classic rock station and heard some Chicago signing 24 or 5 to 6.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUAYeN3Rp2E

To add to the confusion, there are only 12 ounces in a Troy pound.

I think it's "25 or 6 to 4..." A classic metric in time counting for music. :)

Why do I have a feeling that deli counter dude just wanted a bigger sale for the effort?

"I hate when someone asks for 1/4 pound, I have to pull the meat out, calibrate the cutter, cut the meat, set the scale, print the receipt...all the same work as if I can get a 1/2 pound sale out of him..."

I think deli counter dude might have been the smarter one in the conversation ;)

I was stunned when I got to the math part of RE school. Hardest math in the biz is just figuring out how to prorate taxes and fees. It's of it is figuring area or percentages. There were several people who just could not figure it out. One lady was taking the class for the 3rd time. With the notes in front of her and the instructor explaining it she could not get it. If she ever did pass, I feel really bad for any clients she lands. :eek: