Hugh's post immediately above says it better than mind several above. Deli counter guy may not need simple math skills to do whatever regular job he has in life. But they're called simple math skills by society for a reason. If you don't possess these skills, life is going to be full of misadventures when mistakes honestly happen of if others try to cheat you and you're not astute enough to catch it.

I respect the guy for merely showing up to work. And for all I know he had some tragic birth event or childhood accident. So I certainly wouldn't make a scene of the transaction or belittle him. But still, I feel bad for the guy for not having certain skills in life that I think are going to make life much more challenging for him,

Very true... for our generation... nowadays kids "have an app for that" and I'm not kidding, have you seen people tapping at their cell phone to figure out how much of a tip to leave at a restaurant?

I think it was a decade ago I was having beers with some friends and we were lamenting the death of the phrases "half past, quarter till, etc." (at that time everyone was wearing digital watches, now most people just look at their cell phones for the time)

Come to think of it if deli boy was really smart why didn't he just pull out his iPhone and ask it how much a quarter pound of turkey would translate to? :D

What is also amazing is that this thread has been viewed by over 1500 folks. Deli boy has no idea that a bunch of Pelicans are discussing his aptitude et al...

Perhaps symptomatic of the times. Several reports on the news lately said SAT scores this year were the lowest in 40 years and less than 50% of takers scored high enough to be deemed ready for college level work ?? This does not bode well for the future in a very competitive world.

And lets not forget the lost art of looking at a map, you know those paper things we used to have to use to find out where we were going?

Geeze... I have sound like the old guy...

and in my day you could buy a car for a NICKLE!!!!

Mike,
You hit on a very good point when you mentioned a lack of training.
I deliver sales and service courses to a number of people and the lack of training is a common thread in discussions.
I urge them all to make it their responsibility to find out everything they can about a new job because chances are their employer won't take the time to train them.

Best
Les

Naw, it is just the good old Holloway charm... we are drawn to your posts like a moth to a flame.

Have you considered starting a cult?

“The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.”
― Socrates

Stopped at a 7-11 to buy a newspaper and a small chocolate.
The guy added it up on the till, and said $15:30 please.
I said "Wow, the paper's gone up".
He looked at me blankly.
I said "I don't think it's $15:30"
He looked at the till again, and said "$15:30 please"

It was only when I took him through it step by step ("paper $1:40, chocolate 90 cents, so that makes $2:30") that he realised he hadn't closed out the previous transaction. He never twigged that $15:30 for a paper and small chocolate was maybe wrong.

Went to the post office to buy stamps. Came to $10.10. I gave the girl a $20 and she entered it to work out the change. I then said "Hold on, I've got a 10 c coin" and gave her that.
She stood there looking from the $9.90 change number on the till to the 10 cent coin and back, looking increasing worried. I took pity on her and said "That makes $10:00 change"

:D Brilliant!!!
I'll have to remember to wait for the till door to open next time I want to mess with the cashier.

Greek philosophy: Music and Gymnastics.
Music for Grace - Gymnastics for Strength.
Plato's Republic, as I recall.
.
Still true today...although too many are disinterested.

These lack of basic math abilities are not limited to kids today. I remember back in the early 90's my parents had a retirement house in the Tenn. mountains near Dayton. I was visiting my folks when my dad and I went on a beer run. I remember going to what was basically a beer hut. It looked like a glorified large shed loaded to the gills with beer. There was just a small space up front where the cashier greeted the customers. You placed your order and the cashier would get it and bring it to the window. I don't remember the exact numbers anymore but our purchase was a little over 20.00 . My dad handed the cashier ( looked like a late teens early 20's chick ) a 50.00 dollar bill. This was back when the cash register did NOT tell you what the change was. I remember the cash till opening up and this chick was handing my dad bill after bill like he just won the lottery ! Like the Energizer bunny she just kept going and going. My dad and I actually made eye contact with each other wondering what the heck is she doing. She finally stopped and smiled and said have a nice day. My dad was still standing there with this stack of bills in his hand when he asked her " are you sure you counted that back right " ? She proudly exclaimed " I sure did " . My dad said OK and put the money in his pocket, grabbed the beer and we loaded up. When we got back to the house my dad counted the change she had handed him back..........she paid us over 75.00 to drink their beer !!! :D

Ok, this is not one of my most proud moments.

I had ordered some custom oak trim for finishing my stairs while doing a reno a few years back. I went to the shop to pick up my order (Black Forest Wood Company in Calgary) and I was very upset that they didn't make the material to the lengths that I asked for and basically argued the fact that they were shorting me material. Not a happy camper.

After going back and forth from their explanation and what I had in my mind was right it finally dawned on me that they were giving me more than I was paying for and I would have more than enough to do the job.
I wrapped up our transaction by saying "You mean I have been arguing with you all this time because you are giving me more than I am paying for?" Got out the credit card, apologized, took my material and left. The guy I was dealing with had a smile on his face afterwards. All good.
I have been back and they are a great company to deal with.

Sometimes your head is just not in the game.

The change thing though is priceless. One of the more common mistakes that people on the cash register make when taking cash for a transaction is taking the cash and stuffing in the drawer and not putting the received money on the register until the change is counted. They forget what dollar value was given to them. The new tills have almost eliminated this but not quite.

Sorry, that's theft. Not much different than if your father had reached into the register and taken $75 when she was not looking.

Sounds like she thought you gave her a $100 bill.

Are you sure she wasn't meth or cocaine fueled?

Shoe on other foot for me recently.
We were walking out to the car and our favorite Italian restaurant waitress came running out saying, "I'm good but not this good."
She showed us the money & the tab.
It was rather dark in there & I had forgotten my glasses...instead of leaving 3 $20 bills I left 2 $20s and a $100.
She'll get a nice fat tip the next time.

You should give her manager a call to commend her honesty. Most would have pocketed the extra.