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Dyscalculic Cashiers Unite
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| evie dee |
Posted on December 20 2008 09:30 PM
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Member
Location: Detroit, Michigan
Posts: 570
Joined: 2007-12-01
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autoclavicle wrote:
I don't like to think about retail. It seemed that no matter how careful and slow I counted, I'd often end up a dollar short at the end of my shift. And I absolutely hated when someone would hand me a pile of change after I already entered the money they have me previously. Then if you give them the wrong change or are too slow counting, you're clearly some kind of idiot.
I hated it when people would pay with change.
There's a Coinstar at the supermarket, I suggest people use it.
Although, I'd be fine if they gave me rolls of change, then I knew exactly how much money to give back. |
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| persephone |
Posted on December 21 2008 01:46 AM
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Member
Location: Outback Australia
Posts: 4
Joined: 2008-04-05
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Hmmm. years ago in another lifetime, I was receptionist at a small vet clinic.. so had to deal with money 
I was Ok if there was no rush, or if folks gave me near to correct . Must admit to many times saying my eyes were bad or something, and asking them to do their own change The more flustered I got, of course, the worse it was!! I didn't know about Dyscal. then.. just always thought I was 'not right'.
Now- if I have to handle money, I smile sweetly, and explain that I have 'number dyslexia"... and folks are so helpful!!  |
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| Rae |
Posted on December 21 2008 02:17 AM
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Member
Location: No value
Posts: 52
Joined: 2008-11-26
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This reminds me of a time when I was working as a waitress at Ascot racetrack, in England. I enjoyed the job because it mostly consisted of things I could do without getting involved in money.
Then one day, one of the cashiers had called in sick. Since I was apparently their next best thing -they stuck me on the register. I didn't think this would be a problem...until they told me the till did not calculate the change for you (how rediculous??).
I went into a major panic. I was too embarrassed to tell them I couldn't do it (and at the time, I had no idea why, just the bad math)). I did try to explain, but they just laughed and told me I'd be fine. I remember running to the bathroom, almost sick with fear.
It was an absolute disaster. I gave wrong change all day, and cried in my lunch break. I was so embarressed and ashamed. My collegues looked at me funny after that - since our sales were off and I think they might have thought I stole it.
I actually gave in my two weeks notice after that incident. The whole ordeal had deeply upset me, and even now it makes me cringe. Especially when I remember the customers complaining of wrong change...urgh! |
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| justfoundout |
Posted on December 21 2008 03:43 AM
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Member
Location: Texas USA
Posts: 6136
Joined: 2008-05-25
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12/20/08
Dear Rae,
I know what you mean. Isn't it just awful when someone looks at you like you've given them the wrong amount of money on purpose? And this is true whether you are on the cashiering end or on the customer end. I was paying my mechanic one time. He's been my mechanic for almost 20 years. I handed him four $20 bills to pay him $100. He looked at me funny. I asked, "Oh, are there five $20's in a hundred?" And he said, "Usually". -An embarrassed LOL - jus' |
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| Rae |
Posted on December 21 2008 04:23 AM
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Member
Location: No value
Posts: 52
Joined: 2008-11-26
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Yes, Jus. Its horrible, because it makes you feel stupid and we're not stupid. Its terrible in the sense that if you don't wear a badge that says "I have a math LD" then everyone fails to understand, which is where sarcastic comments like that come from. |
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| downtown |
Posted on December 21 2008 04:42 AM
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Member
Location: U.S.A.
Posts: 20
Joined: 2007-05-11
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CheshireKat wrote:
Anyway... all of this makes doing my job twice as difficult. The only thing I seem to be good at numerically is counting out change. I have been in this position for almost 6 months and I am proud to say that I have yet to give back incorrect change... my register always balances out at the end of the shift.
I've worked in retail too. I was lucky to have a register that counted the change for me in the department store. But the job I had at a bakery discount store, I didn't always have that luxury. The most difficult task for me was counting change backward when a customer came in and wanted change for the day old stuff we sold out back.
I'd always be at least a dollar off and several cents off one way or the other. It was embarrassing when the customer had to help me. I had to take their word for it that they were counting the right amount.
What's even more amazing is that I'm now working as a teacher's aide at a high school. I'm learning the algebra and geometry right along with the students. Luckily, they have a math lab where student's can go for help and I send them there--and most often go there myself! |
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| downtown |
Posted on December 21 2008 04:50 AM
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Member
Location: U.S.A.
Posts: 20
Joined: 2007-05-11
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justfoundout wrote:
12/15/08
Dear ApplePi,
Regarding the people and the extra money and the change,... yes, I know exactly what you mean. And I think that somewhere on this forum (who knows when it was?), I launched into a very long posting in which I detailed that phenomenon. It's like this, right? The cash register says that the person owes $14.27, and the customer hands you a $20 bill. You enter $20 received into the cash register. The cash register dutifully tells you to give the customer $5.73 back, which you would gladly and easily do,... except that, in the meantime, the customer (a rocket scientist, recently laid off from NASA) has figured out that he'd rather get a nice even $6.00 back from you than get all that ugly, heavy change, so he's forced you to accept another $0.27. But what you're looking at on the register read-out is $5.73. Brain freeze!!! Help! And sometimes there are much worse scenarios. I used this one because I was able to count it out. And even so, I've rechecked it three times before hitting send. (Hope it's right.) - jus'
That's almost as bad as what I experienced. That didn't happen to me at the department store fortunately. I'd have to tell the customer to make the change for himself. I'd be at a total loss--figuratively and literally. |
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| justfoundout |
Posted on December 21 2008 08:04 PM
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Member
Location: Texas USA
Posts: 6136
Joined: 2008-05-25
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12/21/08
Rae, Thanks for the support. And that incident with my mechanic occurred just about a month before I found out about dyscalculia. Knowing these things about myself is the reason why I knew that the very condescending report on me, written by the PhD psychologist, was so unfair. She implied that I was hunting for an excuse for not being a success, and that dycalculia was just something that I'd heard about and decided to blame my problems on.
And, 'downtown', the example that I gave was similar to what had happened many years ago while working in a grocery store as a cashier. The head cashier said, when 'this and that' (examples) happens, "You freeze". This was long before I knew about dyscalculia, but I thought to myself, "Yes, I freeze,... as opposed to doing 'what'?" Thanks for your sympathy. - jus'
Edited by justfoundout on December 21 2008 08:05 PM |
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| ApplePi |
Posted on December 21 2008 10:29 PM
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Member
Location: No value
Posts: 39
Joined: 2008-12-12
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Just-
You perfectly described that give back change thing- I think I'll abbreviate it TGBCT. I absolutely feel so awful when they give that look that I would purposely not give them enough money. If anything, if in doubt, I give them more (although I'm not in doubt enough, that's why I don't give people enough money). I really hate it when we have to add in lifeguard discounts, because I always forget to give them, or give them too little or too much of a discount. And the discount is really blurry, because it covers somethings but not others. But luckily I don't have to deal with that until summer. But until then, I need to find another job, but I don't know what. I'm thinking maybe a retirement home or busing-does anyone have an experience in either of those "fields"? |
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| CheshireKat |
Posted on December 26 2008 01:01 AM
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Member
Location: United States
Posts: 1860
Joined: 2008-11-14
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justfoundout wrote:
12/15/08
Dear ApplePi,
Regarding the people and the extra money and the change,... yes, I know exactly what you mean. And I think that somewhere on this forum (who knows when it was?), I launched into a very long posting in which I detailed that phenomenon. It's like this, right? The cash register says that the person owes $14.27, and the customer hands you a $20 bill. You enter $20 received into the cash register. The cash register dutifully tells you to give the customer $5.73 back, which you would gladly and easily do,... except that, in the meantime, the customer (a rocket scientist, recently laid off from NASA) has figured out that he'd rather get a nice even $6.00 back from you than get all that ugly, heavy change, so he's forced you to accept another $0.27. But what you're looking at on the register read-out is $5.73. Brain freeze!!! Help!
I know this is wrong of me, but I lie. I tell them I can't take their change, that the register won't accept it and it will mess up the internal computations and whatever other crap I can make up off the top of my head. Anything that prevents me from having to figure out WHY they're giving me this extra change, what it is they want from me.
"The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings." - Eric Hoffer |
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| justfoundout |
Posted on December 26 2008 04:13 AM
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Member
Location: Texas USA
Posts: 6136
Joined: 2008-05-25
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12/26/08
LOL. Stop that!- jus'
Edited by justfoundout on December 26 2008 04:15 AM |
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