to be slightly "wow really" at this

[Lonnie]

I wasnt in the mood to cook tonight dh was out and it was just me and the kids so we decided to have a take away went to fish and chips shop was served by a very polite I would estimate 16-17 year old whom took my order and then said that will be £11.90 I handed her £22 and at this point the chip shop owner stepped closer to her and said "seeing you how gave wrong change yesterday with the £10 now be careful today" She went "I dont know how to do that I dont know how much I need to give her back" I was quite shocked and just said "£10.10" but after i was thinking this is really not a hard piece of math and I would expect someone working in a shop to be able to do a piece of math like that in their head. at the dinner table I asked my lot whom could do it asking them to put their hand up in the air once they had it all bar dd3 (age 6) could do it within 1 min ds and dn (8 and 16) doing it within max 10 seconds.. (ds being a bit of a math wiz I did expect him to be able to that fast) dd2 whom struggles in school was the longest (age 10 ) but still got it within the minute..

So I am obviously aware that this girl could have had issues but I find it quite that she wasnt able to do this if she worked in a fish and chips shop (she isnt new Ive seen her there before she has been working there for a while)

I did ask cant the till do that for you?"+ and she went no but the owner went well yes so perhaps once I left she was taught how to use the till in that way

getting the message OP? Yes, YABU.

HTH

Lonnie - I also think YABU. But as a diversion, perhaps she fancied you? I used to work in a chippie between finishing A levels and starting uni, and one night a VERY good looking chap came in and I found I was totally unable to serve him. I was just so flustered and unable to concentrate. So I made an excuse and got a more experienced colleague. She had the same problem. So we got our manager, and well he had exactly the same problem! We managed it eventually, but poor bloke was waiting there for his chips (well it was more than just chips, he wasn't THAT good looking ) and thankfully he saw the funny side that it took 3 of us working together to get his order straight So just a thought

I think that it was more important that she was polite, tbh.

I also don't see why you couldn't have just given her 20pounds!

It is also hard to think on your feet when you have a shop full of customers in front of you & trying to remember orders etc. What if it had only been her second day? She could have been worried about making a mistake again!

"unlike many of you here are doing to me, without giving me the benefit of the doubt that I may have a issue (and I do)"

Just like you don't know if she has an issue? You are quick to cut us down for judging YOU, but you did exactly the same to HER!

I was in a cafe recently with some friends, and we all had a set lunch which was, I don't know, $14? And we all paid separately, and we all paid with $20 notes. And every single time, the girl serving us had to get out her pad and paper and work out the sum. 9 times, in a row, of the same sum.

I felt a bit bad for her. It must be tricky, working in a shop. I've not done it, but it seems like a hard job.

I'm a little more "Wow" at her boss feeling the need to pull her up so publically.

You said she was polite OP. I would much rather have someone polite serve me with a calculator to hand than someone surly who was good at mental maths (not math).

DD has learning difficulties and I would hate to think of some smug mother encouraging her children to scoff at her abilities over the dinner table.

My local Fish and Chips shop has a sign up saying:

"Please be patient with the staff, as we employ people with learning disabilities"

I get numbers mixed up soetimes in a similar way t others get letters mixed up. I worked in a bakers when i was younger and often used the till to add up to make i wasn't getting it worng.

I'm rubbish at Maths, can't do mental arithmetic as I get all flustered and my brain freezes. However, I would've been able to work out the change really easily using the counting up method (practical type adding up comes more naturally to me).

Just goes to show that figuring out change in a shop isn't indicative of overall mathematical ability.

Actually, I've just remembered an occasion where dh, who has a Maths degree from Cambridge, couldn't work out the cost of 4 26p stamps. It can happen to the best of us and I got much comedy mileage out of that one.

I have a degree in maths, but I panic when it comes to mental arithmetic. It's very embarrasing...

I have 2 first class honours degrees and I have major issues with mental calculations like these. Always have had... in fact, I read this post and the answer certainly didn't leap out at me, so it's not necessarily an indicator of SN, though of course it's likely that it is.
Don't personally find it worthy of comment as a topic, so, a first on MN for me: .

If they use a till at the chippy, then it would say on the till £11.90, she puts in how much you gave her, so £22 and it would then say £10.10 for change!

I am no maths whizz and i get stuck with the simplest of sums sometimes but i can work it out.

I have an interview for morrisons next wednesday, its for a new store opening in August and the only thing i hate about a till job is if you mess up. When i use to work in a supermarket when i had finished my NVQ (just for a bit of pocket money lol)

I sometimes didnt have my mind on the job and then when someone gave me say £10 for a £4+ transaction i sometimes put in the amount of the total bill instead of what they gave me and that tied me up in knots and i did it once when my old Maths Teacher was there! OMG i could have died!

We are supposed to subtotal on the till, then put in amount proffered, then it tells us the change. Nice and secure for balancing. It is fine until the till does that, and someone helpfully hands over some coins after they have handed over a note. Then the phone rings. Chipper staff are multitasking where I am, so I'd give them a note and take change, or give the actual amount.

You are being a complete and utter...oh, what everyone else said.

What should go on the chips first ?

Salt or Vinegar ?

Personally, I think salt. because then the vinegar can wash it through, but I know that there are are other opinions

God no, the vinegar should go on first - that way the salt sticks to the chips instead of just sliding off.

edinburgh style salt and sauce
soap dodge city vinegar and salt

I think good mental arithmetic is a life skill, like reading. And so you should be able to work out change as OP said. Otherwise you lay yourself open to being short-changed, deliberately or accidentally. And being generally at the mercy of many dodgy so called special offers (Buy one for £1.49, or 2 for £2, as seen in my local shop recently).

Feeling smug about being good at mental arithmetic is not a pleasant trait,but I can't understand why people think being bad at mental arithmetic is something to be relaxed about either. Would anyone boast about being crap at reading?
Oh, and vinegar first.

OK I meant 2 for £3 but it really was a Special Offer

lady in front of me perplexed
"ive been overcharged these are 25 each.you charged me £1 for four"

Realitylovesyou....

"I find it quite that someone can't use punctuation or paragraphs properly, but there you go."

Oucheroo! Firm but fair.

"but I can't understand why people think being bad at mental arithmetic is something to be relaxed about either. Would anyone boast about being crap at reading?"

No one has boasted, just pointed out that it's not a fair thing to judge on.

Why are you all so madly horrid?

Firmly with OP. Simply unasseptable.