black Friday mathematically challenged young lady

Originally Posted by DuckRyder
I hope the young lady tied the manager and cashier up long enough that some folks left and had a bad sales day, maybe they will think twice the next time they want to be shady...


Not shady when it's just math. Now we have to make allowances for people who are bad at math? What's next?
 
Originally Posted by Variant_S
Poor math skills is one cause of this, but a bigger one, I think, is a poor-to-nonexistent understanding of money. I cannot tell you how many of my community-college Math students had mastered basic algebra but could not figure out sales tax, %discount, and other simple computations.

Maybe they hadn't really mastered basic algebra at all, since sales tax and percentage discount can be dealt with as pretty basic fractions. Of course, that's where most people get stymied in algebra. Let them manipulate a basic equation and they're okay. Toss in a fraction line, much less a negative exponent, and it's all over but the crying.
 
Originally Posted by Garak
Originally Posted by Variant_S
Poor math skills is one cause of this, but a bigger one, I think, is a poor-to-nonexistent understanding of money. I cannot tell you how many of my community-college Math students had mastered basic algebra but could not figure out sales tax, %discount, and other simple computations.

Maybe they hadn't really mastered basic algebra at all, since sales tax and percentage discount can be dealt with as pretty basic fractions. Of course, that's where most people get stymied in algebra. Let them manipulate a basic equation and they're okay. Toss in a fraction line, much less a negative exponent, and it's all over but the crying.




This could describe me. I'm a member of the screwed up math generation that was taught old math, then told to forget that for the new math, then back to old math. The basics I understood but algebra was a mental block for me.

I can do most math problems by visualizing in my head but putting it down on paper where the teacher wanted to see the work was my downfall.
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
Originally Posted by Garak
Originally Posted by Variant_S
Poor math skills is one cause of this, but a bigger one, I think, is a poor-to-nonexistent understanding of money. I cannot tell you how many of my community-college Math students had mastered basic algebra but could not figure out sales tax, %discount, and other simple computations.

Maybe they hadn't really mastered basic algebra at all, since sales tax and percentage discount can be dealt with as pretty basic fractions. Of course, that's where most people get stymied in algebra. Let them manipulate a basic equation and they're okay. Toss in a fraction line, much less a negative exponent, and it's all over but the crying.




This could describe me. I'm a member of the screwed up math generation that was taught old math, then told to forget that for the new math, then back to old math. The basics I understood but algebra was a mental block for me.

I can do most math problems by visualizing in my head but putting it down on paper where the teacher wanted to see the work was my downfall.


For some reason the teachers let me get away with it because they knew I could do it in my head. I remember them yelling at other students for not showing their work. They might have been copying though.
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
This could describe me. I'm a member of the screwed up math generation that was taught old math, then told to forget that for the new math, then back to old math. The basics I understood but algebra was a mental block for me.

There is value in both systems. I've always believed it's crucial to learn arithmetic properly. Children don't like rote memorization, but it does help and is a great stopgap until (and if) real understanding kicks in. If I try to do a semi-complex multiplication in my head, I try to split it into components and go from there. The learning by memorization and then having understanding build carries on throughout math. You can memorize the volume of a sphere, and that's pretty basic math. What is that these days, late elementary school, early high school? You're not going to learn how to derive that until you hit multivariate calculus, which most people never will. So, for most, understanding how it works is simply not realistic. It's an excruciating enough exercise for those who do.

There is value to what was termed New Math, too. This is where I disagreed with Richard Feynman. He claimed that learning about sets and set notation at an early age was useless and only of use to actual mathematicians, not even theoretical physicists, much less engineers, accountants, economists, and so forth. From a certain view, he's got a point. However, being able to properly visualize and understand sets and the notation will be very handy when one hits linear algebra (essential for physicists). Even in ordinary calculus, keeping sets in mind will keep you out of trouble on occasion. Certainly, mathematicians will have use for sets and someone in a mathematical physics program will not be avoiding them.

Early exposure to sets will be useless to a great deal of the population, but it's certainly not harmful, and I remembered what I was taught many years later when I entered linear algebra at university.
 
Pretty naive to think the store was too stupid to advertise something at 90% off like they masterfully concluded in their heads. Like the manager decided well heck we already started typing this sign out, lets just throw an extra 20% on there without hitting the backspace key.

Then there's the Cards Against Humanity 99% off sale that was actually (kind of) legitimate.
 
Macy's seem to do it all the time, I see double discounts all the time and then maybe you can or can't throw in a coupon on top of it.
 
Originally Posted by eljefino
Pretty naive to think the store was too stupid to advertise something at 90% off like they masterfully concluded in their heads. Like the manager decided well heck we already started typing this sign out, lets just throw an extra 20% on there without hitting the backspace key.

It sounds like regular Canadian oil pricing.
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted by 02SE
Originally Posted by JLTD
Originally Posted by Astro14
I doubt your arithmetically challenged acquaintance actually went to whatever prestigious school was embalazoned on her sweatshirt...

lol.gif
Or indeed, any university at all.

Was it a case of millennial entitlement?
smirk2.gif
"I interpret this as 90% off, I WANT MY 90% OFF"

I'd say it's a case of: 'Everyone gets a participation trophy'. No demonstration of competence required.



^^^^^

Exactly right...

People need to play real sports.... With real score keeping. Learn how to win and lose... No participation trophies... You win you get something. You don't... You don't get Jack number2.

And most college kids can't name who was president during the Civil War... Or how to multiply 12 times 9 in their heads...

This nation is truly getting dumber all the time. Just the way certain people in power like it....
If many of these world champions looked at the US statistical abstract they might actually learn some shocking truths about this country. And who pays what... Who earns what... And much more than that.
 
I work for a grocery store and we get this alot. Especially if it's a buy one get one of equal or lesser value free. It's not 50% off off of everything.
 
I would of been in the same boat. To be honest I didn’t really pass high school math my teachers passed me for trying because I didn’t understand anything at all lol especially geometry but algebra wasn’t far behind.
 
You only find straightforward pricing from someone selling stuff out of the trunk of his car. Everyone else (retailers) is trying to make you think you're getting a deal. I call it Kohls pricing. Jack it up, mark it down, print a coupon at checkout so they'll come back and get another 'deal'.
 
AutoMechanic said:
I would of been in the same boat. To be honest I didn’t really pass high school math my teachers passed me for trying because I didn’t understand anything at all lol especially geometry but algebra wasn’t far behind.
Click to expand...

There is a thing called dyscalculia, a form of dyslexia with numeracy skills. Reading is no problem, but understanding mathematical concepts are a real problem. I found out a bit late, but have developed strategies to cope...although avoiding anything to do with calculation is still the first option. Not as common as dyslexia, but one of my daughters, and her daughter have it too. Also a high amount of lefthandedness in our family too...me and 2 out of 4 kids.

Like those with dyslexia, we tend to end up in trades, not because we are stupid, far from it, but we think in 3D pictures, which is extremely useful in manual jobs. My daughter is a dressmaker, being able to see a 3D garment in her head is a bonus.

So ignore 3 pages of people putting down those with inadequate numeracy skills, I'm sure they are not perfect, but we won't make them feel bad about it.
 
Motu said:
There is a thing called dyscalculia, a form of dyslexia with numeracy skills. Reading is no problem, but understanding mathematical concepts are a real problem. I found out a bit late, but have developed strategies to cope...although avoiding anything to do with calculation is still the first option. Not as common as dyslexia, but one of my daughters, and her daughter have it too. Also a high amount of lefthandedness in our family too...me and 2 out of 4 kids.

Like those with dyslexia, we tend to end up in trades, not because we are stupid, far from it, but we think in 3D pictures, which is extremely useful in manual jobs. My daughter is a dressmaker, being able to see a 3D garment in her head is a bonus.

So ignore 3 pages of people putting down those with inadequate numeracy skills, I'm sure they are not perfect, but we won't make them feel bad about it.
Click to expand...
Agreed. I was in the top 5 readers when I graduated. I can read and pronounce names just fine. But when we bring math into it that’s when there is issues. I noticed too like you mentioned yes a lot of us are in trades. Probably because most office jobs require math to some form especially people like accountants and tax people and stuff like that. And we like 3D hands on things too.
 
I had a very advanced reading age in school, you would wonder why the teachers didn't pick up that I read well, but had no idea about arithmetic. I am still a big reader...go to the library 24/7 to read ebooks on my tablet. We learned the times tables by rote, said them every morning, which has been a big help. Otherwise I only add...I will add to subtract, and use dominoes or dice in my head to do mental calculations...tumbling mental dice...numbers in groups of 2, 3, 4, and five...counting on my fingers in my head. We can't show the working in how we got the answer, it was a laborious linking of pathways that have nothing to do with mathmatics.

I now there were some kids at school who couldn't read, but seemed normal otherwise...and I bet there were others who managed to get by by various methods that I didn't notice...dyslexics are very smart about such things. When I got to highschool in the '60's, and we started to do real mathematics things became difficult - every maths period we started with a short test, those who failed were taken out to the corridor and given 2 whacks with the cane, across the buttocks. Caned everyday...used to notch my belt. I was on a technical course, gearing us up to go into trades, and was able to drop maths as a subject, as the work we were destined to go into was for the not so bright.
 
Joe1 said:
I had the misfortune of being forced to endure a bit of Black Friday madness at an outlet store of a well known purse brand.

The ostensible "MSRP" prices seemed egregiously inflated and l could not imagine that anyone ever paid anywhere near those prices.

The "promotion" of the day was 70% off the inflated MSRP tag plus "an additional 20% off" on select items. I overheard a young woman who was proudly sporting a sweatshirt of a prestigious University crow to her mother "mom, this 300 dollar purse will only cost 30 dollars after the 70% and 20% discounts". I quickly calculated a $72 cost in my head and informed her that her math was wrong and both her and mom looked condescendingly at me. A few minutes later l heard both the young lady and mom arguing with the cashier and supervisor about the price. They fully expected to pay $30 and didn't understand the math behind the deceptive pricing.

I realize that most Americans are not strong in math, but l expected more from a college student at a respected University.
Click to expand...
I don't think high schoolers today are capable of fourth grade math from 40 years ago. High school graduates can't make change today. Never mind multiplicative discounts; they can't add or subtract. I was on an out of town job assignment that would last several weeks/months. I was staying in a mom & pop motel in a small town (close to the jobsite). The town had like 4 restaurants; a Hardees, a Subway, a Mexican place out by the highway and THE gas station had chicken place built in. I'm on per diem; company paid expenses. I give myself $100 per week for lunch expenses. I have 5 twenty dollar bills and some small change and a few $1 dollar bills. I go to Subway and order two 12" chicken subs. There are 3 people in the store; me & 2 young girls behind the counter. 1 makes the sandwiches, 1 rings me up. The bill is $11.23. I give the girl a $20 + $1.23 in change. She takes the money and closes the cash register drawer and says thanks.
I said "I gave you a twenty," the two girls exchanged suspicious looks but she opened the drawer and gave me a ten. The following evening, the two girls had rotated positions, the checkout girl was making sandwiches and the sandwich girl was checking out...there was a female customer who came in while they were making my sandwiches, I made it a point to wave my $20 bill to her, again I gave the checkout a $20 plus $1.23 in change, the second girl did the same thing, took my $20 and change, closed the register drawer and said "thanks." I said "I gave you a $20, you owe me $10. The other customer nodded, apparently a mature enough adult to be able to make change....The cashier opened the drawer and gave me my $10.
End result of this experience and others similar: I am now a cantankerous customer. When I make a purchase at a fast food restaurant and I'm using a $20 or larger bill, I lay the money on the counter, and tell whatever semi-literate creature behind the counter "Don't touch MY money until you lay the correct change on the counter." Or, if I'm at a drive thru window, I ask them how much change I get before they take my money? Semi-literates must be treated as such, unfortunately.
 
Alabama is “The Crimson Tide”. Abbreviated, “Tide”.

Harvard is the “Crimson”. Abbreviated “Crimson”.

Crimson, without the Tide, is most certainly, and uniquely, Harvard.

Even in Alabama.

Sorry, bud...
 
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