Today I went to Jack-in-the-Box for lunch (What? I had a salad! Okay, it was a Sourdough Jack. With cheese. And curly fries. TGIF arteries!), where I was delayed for a most annoying and lame reason. When I pulled up to the window (hey, how about another aside? I CAN.NOT. end a drive-through exchange without thinking thankyoudrivethrough..huhuh in a Beavis and Butthead voice. Help! I hate B&B! Why me?), I offered a $10 bill as payment for my $5.62 tab (OR WHATEVER, I know some of you fussy-pantses are off Googling the exact price, with tax, of the meal--focus!). The cashier looked at me, looked at my ten-spot, and proceeded to perform a series of complex keystrokes on the register (it was seriously like that airport scene in Meet the Parents), before it finally dinged and served up my change on a silver platter. She handed it to me, studied the receipt and said, "your change iiissss...$4.38".
Now. In MY day (1994), fast-food workers were required to not only make change, but also to count it back to the customer. In fact, this was one of the first things they taught us when I started working at Hardees as a young buck. I realize that in theory, the computerized way is faster, except...no, it's not. By the time you enter the payment into the computer, read the customer their magic number, and wait while the customer counts her own change to make sure you haven't made a Technology-Based Error, you could have counted it back yourself about three times.
AND, the beauty of counting back change is that you don't have to perform any mental subtraction to calculate the change. You just count up from the total until you get to the amount of the payment. Like so:
Say the total is $5.62 and I give you $10. The question you want to ask yourself while counting out change is "what is the next major unit of money? (5 cents, 10 cents, 25 cents, dollar, five dollars, etc.)" If the total is $5.62, then the next major unit of money is $5.65. So what you do need to get to $5.65? 3 cents. Then, the next major unit is $5.75. You need 10 cents. Then $6.00. You need 25 cents. Then $10. You need 4 dollars. Now you have $4.38, which is the correct change. And if you also counted it out as you went (e.g. "$5.65, $5.75, $6.00, and four is $10), the customer would know her change was correct.
I know it doesn't SOUND quicker, but when you do it often you'd be surprised how it comes automatically. I also used to teach it to the kids I babysat for, and they loved it. AS WILL YOU, the next time you have occasion to count out change. Which is probably the 12th of NEVER. Jesus. Okay, now that I think of it, this entry may be the most worthless Treatise on Fast Food-Related Issues ever penned. Oh well. See you guys on Monday.
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12 comments:
I cannot perform math under pressure. Or parallel-park. I wonder if there is some correlation there.
Here is another example of how technology is making us more stupid, even those people working at the drive thru. I was a bank teller and had to do the counting back, and like you said, it is so easy!
You know, this was a very mathlete post.
Just sayin'.
I understand the CONCEPT of counting back change. But when some lightning-fingered clerk does it back to me like that, they BLOW MY LITTLE MIND. Here's how it sounds to me: "And 2 is 10 and 4 is 8 and 6 is 12 and 5 is 20! Thank you!!"
My mom (apparently) has a major THING about counting back change too. This is based on a single, but VERY EMBARRASSING, exchange when I was a kid. She bought something and the cashier just dumped all her change in her hand. Unlike you and your coffee, my mom has little compunction about telling clerks what she thinks. Her (would "haughty" be the wrong word?) voice rang out: "It is CUSTOMARY to COUNT the change back."
About 6 months ago I ordered a drink from an airport Starbux. The total was $4.08 and my husband handed the girl a $10 while I dug around for change (not wanting to carry $0.92 in change while traveling). The girl didn't hear me say I had exact change and had already programmed $10.00 into the register. She was already rummaging in the register for my change when I handed her 8 cents. She got so flustered that she stopped, took the change and just stared at me. I thought it would make it easy for her, 10-4=6, that's basic math, right? Oh no. She was completely stumped. I had to explain to her how much change I now needed back because she had already entered the cash tindered into the register and was not smart enough to do it on her own. I know I agreed the other day that Excel has made me dumb, but come on!
DU-Why oh why didn't I think of saying that? Probably because, as a rule, I am less haughty, and more..chickeny.
Shelly-This has happened to me approx. 234565 times. The bill will be $3.54 and I'll give them $10.04 and all I get is the deer in the headlights. DOES NOT COMPUTE.
This is totally NOT a worthless treatise, it is a VERY WORTHY TREATISE. Seriously, I worked retail for years and years in a little store that wasn't computerized--it just had a little adding machine. And I always used the exact method you described to count customers back their change. It made them feel better, because they were so suspicious that I could actually do math correctly with an adding machine.
Anyway, because of that I am always so annoyed when other cashiers can't figure out that concept. So it makes me really happy to see you put it into words for me.
Forget the mathy stuff for a moment. I need Jack in the Box. Send greasy pressed tacos and fake eggrolls stat.
Sigh.
Huh?
SO over my head...
And I agree with Erica - TOTAL Mathlete post ;)
Crystal-Oh, the 2 for 99 cent tacos. I am not above them. Oh, no I am not.
I worked at Hardees too, in high school. Ok fine. In college too. I was the drive thru QUEEN, thankyouverymuch!
Counting back change is fast and easy. Go Team Hardees!
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