We had lunch at Sbarro today. I purchased a salad and a drink and the cashier, who looked to be about 17-19 years old said “$6.07 please.” I handed him the $20 in my hand. He asked if I had the exact change since they didn’t have any singles in the drawer. When I said that I didn’t have anything else, he said he’d have to give me back a few dollars in quarters and he rang it through. As he was saying this, I found a $1 bill in the corner of my wallet. I handed him that along with a quarter. He stared at me blankly. “Give me $15.18″ I said. He still looked panicked, and said “But I already finished the transaction, I have to give you back $13.93″ because that’s what the computer read-out said when he entered “$20.00″ as the amount tendered. This guy would rather count out nearly $4 in coin than trust me that 21.25 minus 6.07 equals 15.18 because he didn’t have the cognitive tools to confirm this for himself.
So, I ask you, is this a sad commentary on the state of education in this country or our over-reliance on technology? Or as Eric answered, both?
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Justin Williams 03.22.04 at 10:09 pm
yes, it is very sad, but it will most likely continue as long as they continue social promotion.
Erik J. Barzeski 03.24.04 at 4:37 am
This from a guy who is hanging on to his college career with his fingernails?
Erik J. Barzeski 03.25.04 at 1:36 am
To be fair, Judi, the grammar and punctuation errors in your post are numerious and conspicuous. What about the run-on sentences? What about *your* education?
Judi Sohn 03.25.04 at 7:32 am
You’re right, Erik. I have “numerious” grammatical errors in my blog writing. I tend to post in a more chatty form than if I was writing an essay, and I don’t always go back and edit for grammar where I should. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. Do I have basic skills? I’d like to think so, and that’s all I’m talking about here. I didn’t ask the guy to do algebra. But thanks for sharing.
Erik J. Barzeski 03.25.04 at 1:41 pm
It’s my pleasure to share. I didn’t suggest that any of your errors were typographic. It’s your misuse of the indicative rather than the subjunctive (if I was writing) or your sentences without verbs (Absolutely not) that demonstrate a lack of even “basic” language skills…
Lex 03.25.04 at 2:04 pm
Erik woke up on the wrong side of bed.
His own blog today has a story that incorrectly uses “was” instead of “were” in the subjunctive mood: “She asked me if I was going to kiss her at the end of the evening…” (http://nslog.com/archives/2004/03/24/dating_beautiful_people.php)
Judi’s point, Erik, is that rampant under-education and over-reliance on technology is hurting us. If the Sbarro cashier had rung up the charges and found the pizza total price to be $600.00, I doubt he would have realized that the machine had made an error. The concern here isn’t whether your grammar is top-notch or your vocabulary superb. Rather, it’s whether you can function in society as a positive member, instead of as a drain.
Judi Sohn 03.25.04 at 3:08 pm
Thank you, Lex. That was my point, exactly. Not that he didn’t know the math, but that even after I gave him the answer he couldn’t verify whether it was true.
This morning I couldn’t understand why someone with whom I always had a decent online rapport would feel it necessary to belittle me on my own blog. In fact, I think you said a lot more about your character than my grammar. Sometimes Erik, for someone so smart and talented your immaturity amazes me. And it’s going to be your downfall unless you look inside yourself and make some changes. I can always improve my writing. Although to be honest, the way I write on *my* blog is just me and I’m not sorry for it. No one is paying me for my writing (thank goodness). If you don’t like it you don’t have to read it, and you certainly don’t have to comment. You, on the other hand have a lot more work to do to improve your communication skills.
One day, years from now, you are going to grow up and understand that it’s not your IQ that makes you intelligent. It’s where and how you use your words and your gifts. It’s making that conscious decision whether to hurt or to heal and taking personal responsibility for when you make the wrong choice. It’s just too bad that we won’t be friends when that finally happens.