When the tills are down...

Halloway

Amistoso wrote: »

Did you stop to think that she may have some kind of learning disability and you just made her feel like she was totaly worthless?
Maybe you should be a bit more tolerant of other people, having to wait a few extra minutes out of your day I'm sure had no real consequence for you

Learning disability? The inability to add up small sums is scarcely a 'disability'. Basic numeracy should be a pre-requisite for working in a shop, precisely because technology cannot always be relied upon.

Glowie2k2_2

I used to work in a shop but when the tills went down we couldn't even do anything manually because it was ALL computerised, even opening the till!

It is very stressful when things go wrong, when you have to suddenly do things that you have relied on computers to do. I am not saying that the fact the assistant couldn't do maths was acceptable but I can understand where she is coming from, and perhaps why she fumbled it.

elfen

Doesn't help that the majority of kids in school learn how to use a calculator instead of adding, subtraction and the world famous long division

Amistoso_2

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dzug1

elfen wrote: »

Doesn't help that the majority of kids in school learn how to use a calculator instead of adding, subtraction and the world famous long division

But she didn't seem able to use a calculator either....

Halloway

Amistoso wrote: »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyscalculia

All I was trying to say was that perhaps people should be a little less quick to judge...
:idea:

Well the whole dyscalculia/dyslexia vs laziness debate is one that is perhaps better left for another time. But the shop assistant was incompetent in what should be a basic skill. She was even using a calculator so she had no excuse whatsoever. So to judge her as incompetent in this matter is not unreasonable. I'm all for supporting people where they have difficulties but at the end of the day, people in wheelchairs can't work as roofers so perhaps people who can't add up shouldn't work in shops.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

My first job was in a bar with a really old-fashioned till. We had to memorise the prices of all the drinks and on busy nights it was quicker to keep a running total in my head rather than laboriously add them on the till, and it didn't work out change either. My mental arithmetic was red hot that summer.

Numeracy is probably dying a slow death along with basic spelling and grammar.

Amistoso_2

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Meepster

I don't understand why any retail company doesn't have a basic maths test for people applying for cash handling roles. When I was a retail manager, we had a standard test that ANYONE being interviewed for a job had to take. It was very basic, but they could use a calculator. If you didn't get 19 out of 20, you didn't get the job. Simple as that!

I realise that some people can't add up properly (mainly due to the current education system) just as some people can't use feet and inches in measurements, and in reverse some people can't fathom the metric system or use a computer.

But it is like anything, you need the right tools and right skills for a job. Simply taking someone on because they are cheap to employ is a false economy...

LemonGrove

Do you really think she's paid/motivated enough to care or put any effort in? I wouldn't be if I was 10 years old and working at shop till.