Yesterday while I was out and about running some errands I stopped in to throw some gas in the truck for the week. It’s a fairly large chain with a red logo and I’m in there at least twice a week to fill the cars as it’s convenient and the fuel seems to be good quality. I guesstimated about $70 which I pulled out and counted twice while I was in the line waiting for my turn to pay. When I got to the cashier I handed her the stack of bills which consisted of three twenties, one five and five ones and told her how much I was paying. Being a “regular” at the station it was evident she was relatively new. She fanned out the bills and tapped each one with her thumb. She then laid them out one by one on the register as if counting them out. She got a confused look and gathered them back up and did it a second time, then said “sorry I’m having a having a moment” or something like that. The third time she laid down the bills I counted out loudly
Twenty
Fourty
Sixty
Sixty five
Sixty six
Sixty seven and so on
I could almost feel the folks in line counting along with us and as I wandered out a in line guy wearing a Captain America shirt mouthed “wow” to me.
She looked a bit embarrassed and started putting the cash in the register and turned to the other cashier, a manager, and said she needed a break, he told her in a few as the store was really busy.
I’ll omit her specific details which are irrelevant, but note that she was relatively young with made up hair and fancy store bought nails.
Thus ended my first personal experience with the effects of “new math”