Is your brain still a Pentium Processor?

I've been seeing many types of these math problems on social media lately and it always intrigues me how many people really mess up basic math and the principles, rules, theorems, etc. that were taught from grade school on up in the U.S. I'll admit it, I have made these mistakes too becoming lazy and relying on Excel or my Calc app to do it for me instead.

Imagine you are now ransported back to your childhood self. I remember my first days with real math, my paper route and "collecting" the weekly bill. I remember carrying change and having to the basic math adhoc typically. The idea, repitition brings speed and accuracy. I became great at it and even better at figuring out how much I saved for my first car insurance payment for when I turned 16 and could finally drive "legally" on the road. The world is still paying for that BTW, especially Italy and the Audobon in Germany. More on that later though.

This morning I stopped in the local WaWa (A convienence store up here in Delaware) and decided to give the clerk a real world problem like the above. I then repeated a simliar scenario at Home Depot, KFC, West Marine and Lowes throughout the day. I will not go into details for anonimity however the basics parameter's were as followed:

• Total up all items in cart hopefully to a dollar(s) and change amount
• Hand the cashier the appropriate cash plus change to round up to the nearest dollar
• Wait for the reaction

While I do not think it is relevant to go into details I found it amazing that only one out of the 5 businesses I visited yielded a correct solution by the clerk from the total without the aid of a PoS system or calculator. Three out of five used the PoS system, entered the amount given and dispensed the correct change according to what the screen said. Lastly, one poor soul was completely stumped with no aid from the PoS system, no calculator in hand and handed me the incorrect change. As I corrected them handing him the overage back they said oh well I just put it in the take one, leave one penny bin. It all evens out during the day.

This is the one stuck with a Pentium Processor doing abnormal rounding. Guess who I don't want as my banker, broker or financial advisor ever...

In closing, this article was meant to be a mental exercise for my followers as well so please post your Answer to the above Meme in the form of a comment and a reason why you read this article to the end. You might just win one hour of free consulting for your comment, no promises though! -N-Joy, Dave ;)