to think someone operating a till should be able to calculate basic percentages?

[Bigmouthstrikesagain]

I have come across this lack of basic mathematical ability twice now in the past month...

First I was at a Department store attempting to buy a curtain that had been reduced in price by 50% (it was £55 originally). The assitant scanned the item and to his horror it did not come up with the reduced price so he was left scratching his head for a couple of minutes before I helpfully pointed out that half of £55 is £27.50 he was literally trying to work it out on his fingers (I thought he was going to take his shoes and socks off!).

Today I went to a book shop with a 15% off voucher - picked up two books and took them to the till. The very pleasant young man serving me got his calculator out and tapped away for a bit before asking me how to work out percentages - I told him to divide by 100 and multiply by 15 to get the percentage to take off my purchase price. He duly did so.

Both were young men in their mid twenties neither seemed in any way to be particularly stupid just completely clueless. Is it too much to ask that people leave school able to do simple calculations - both of these sums I could do in my head and without the aid of paper or calculator so what the fug is going on???

Bless them.

I agree with you by the way - I find it astounding that people can't work out basic percentages. My stepson is 23 and can't do it either (I called him a dumbass for not knowing how to work out 25% off something, then saw the look on his face and felt like a hideous bitch).

I don't think they are taught at school.

Whenever our local Debenhams have a sale they have to make signs showing exactly how much each item is with 20% off.

You'd think their customers would be able to work out something as simple as that but apparently not.

I'm shit at percentages so I sympathise with those poor shop assistants (although 50% shouldn't have been too much trouble to be fair). I can't always remember the right way to do it on a calc, let alone do it in my head. Their jobs are probably minimum wage, you can't expect people to have a bloody maths degree just to work on a till.

I'm not mathematically gifted but percentages I'm good with especially with a calculater, I do it differently from you though to find 25% of something I'd multiply the amount by 0.25

Milady, is you saying dat peepul who shop in Asda and Primark is fick?

If you feel under pressure to do somthing quickly it can make your mind go blank. Though I would agree that working in sales should give ample opportunity to practice mental calculations.

They are taught at school, my DS is 10 and learning this at the moment, and its part of his entrance test for grammar school next year.
He can do it in his head - so he has learnt that if it is 15% for instance, he can work out 10%, then half of this for 5%, the total being 15% -

You do not need a math degree to work on a till (I worked on one for two years and only had a Government and Politics degree ). My point is that these are basic conceppts fractions and percentages - everyone should be taught them it is a failing of our education system that not everyone leaves school with this ability. Or am I just hopelessly out of date?

mumble I frequent both Asda and Primark shopping emporiums but there never does seem to be a percentage-off sale.

Debenhams customers however must be well fick innit.

Quite right Alices my maths is not perfick but there are several ways to work out the answer so these lads should have been able to come up with one.

Regarding being put on the spot - well I was and I came up with the goods - it really should not be that hard.

I wasnt ever taught properly in primary school, but managed to self teach and then went onto grammar school in the next county so did ok at maths from that point, got a B at GCSE

I also dont know all my times table i can work out my 6/7/8 tables when required from others but dont know it by rote like i should. I was not taught, but was luckily bright enough to cover it up by finding ways round it.

I am 24.

Well, my DH worked on tills for years.

He has MANY learning disabilities and was basically passed along at school until he left at 16 with few GSCEs/standards.

He can't work out percentages.

But, well, he always worked for a living and, having few skills, this is one of the most common jobs to do.

And unbelievably enough, he doesn't appear 'particularly stupid' and isn't required to wear a badge stating his shortcomings.

Guess he should have just gone on the dole, though, so you could bitch about people like him being scroungers.

Maybe the guys in the bookshop has similar problems.

I hate the sheer lack of ANY mathematical ability AT ALL in some shop staff

I go in very often (twice a week) to the CO-OP to do photocopying at 5p a sheet

NO ONE has yet managed to work out the prices, they dont even try counting in 5's using their fingers, they just stand there going errrrrrr looking blank till I tell them that 5 x 15 = 75p or whatever. then they mumble that they'll take my word for it, or they never could do maths - it's the 5 times table FFS its NOT hard!

even my 7 yo can work out (5p x 10) + (5p x 5)

And the number of times I have handed over the EXACT money for 3 or 4 items and the look of amazement on their faces that I added it up. Its sad, frankly.

Now market stall holders, totally different matter, mental maths skills to be proud of!

The thing is, it is so easy these days with the internet to learn things. Anything at all!

I am an old gimmer of 38 and have on occasion used BBC revision guides to help me with matters which have always been a bit unclear due to crap '70's state "education".

There is no excuse for very young people.

I don't know all my timetables and I only got a D in GCSE maths (see I am fick) but ironically I am good at 'higher maths' and went on to get Post Grad qualifications including Statistical analysis (just don't tell anyone I failed to matriculate back in 89!!!).

I dont think you are being fair OP.

No offence to shop workers but it only requires basic qualificatioons and seeing as many people are now leaving school without a basic grip of maths not surprising at all.

I have number blindness, and struggle with mental arithmetic.

I also shop in ASda and Primark so imust be really stoopid.

To be honest those lads may have had an attack of nerves - if they are crap at maths a woman looking beadily at them would make them worse I reckon.

Oh God I knew I'd get flamed for that. So do I but they do not have blanket percentage-off sales at least not where I live.

Do they?

I wondered on the first occasion
if there where learning difficulties involved - but I really don't think that was the case - if both of these men have maths related learning difficulties then I would take back what I said of course - but the way they approached the issue did not signal that to me.

Both these guys were not just working on the till - the bookshop is tiny and the man who works there is clerly controlling stock, orders etc. and in the Department Store the man was in his suit running a concession within the Store (i.e. not simply minimum wage till operators)

Sorry, but I do think that if you are working in a shop you need two basics. Basic maths and basic English and unfortunately it sounds as though both these guys were lacking in the basic maths. If you get a job working on a till and can't do the maths, then surely you should learn?

But people who work on tills usually have all the maths done for them (by the till).
So when the till doesn't do it for them, they are flummoxed.

They probably were taught percentages etc at school but unless it's something you regularly do in your head, you forget how to do it.

That's the great thing about having kids, you have to brush off your maths to check their home work.

Perhaps I being harsh but I do not think these people are stupid - I really think they have been let down by their schooling. I think those who need extra help should be given it - I don't think I am being unfair but maybe my expectations are too high!

I am very grateful lucky that no one has pointed all the terrible typos in my posts of course - clearly I have left school unable to spell or punctuate properly

These days most people expect a till to do all the working for them - as a student I had a pub job where we had to add up all the drinks in our heads and my mental arithmetic was great then but I don't use it any more so its rubbish

I'm not totally shabby at maths but I did used to have complete mental arithmetic meltdowns when I used to work in a greengrocers type shop. The tills were about 30 years old, very basic, and I would frequently key in the wrong price (eg. £30.10 instead of £3.10) and then have a mad panic that I couldn't work out what to deduct from the total to make it correct. Horrendous.

Obviously I know really I'd need to deduct £27 but being stared at in horror completely threw me into a state of blind stupidity.