There is an entire generation out there that can't count.
By Marie Coyle
@MarieCoyle (59511)
June 18, 2026 9:14pm CST
This is so sad.
We've discussed this before off and on in the years I have been here on mylot. I still find it absolutely tragic that so many people simply cannot make change, and if they pay with cash, they have no idea if they get the correct change back, either.
It happened to me again today. I stopped at the grocery next to the pharmacy after picking up son's new prescriptions today. I needed two things; the total was $6.41 I gave the cashier a $10 bill. My mind already knew I should receive change of $3.59. But no...that wasn't what the cashier thought. He had a terrible time. He stared at the $10 bill. He laid out a $5 bill and three $1 bills. ( I didn't say anything--I was wanting to see how this would go.) Then he muttered around and dipped his fingers in the pennies and such a few times. He came up with .79 cents. After a few seconds of thinking on this, he gave me the bills and the .79 cents. I don't like to cheat people....I do know if their cash tills are short, they can get fired. I told him I realized he couldn't take my word for it, but it was not the right amount, and he was going to be short at the end of his shift. I was trying to be quiet about it all...but Mark, the manager we know, came over and looked at the change, looked at me, and gave me the right change...
Knowing Mark, he will try to teach the young man, but Mark's time is limited. He doesn't do the hiring for the store, as it's part of a chain of stores so corporate does the hiring. He told me once that at least half of the people who are hired to be cashiers have no idea how to count back change, and I believe him.
How in the world can these people manage their own money if they can't even count change? The young man read the total of what I should get back, but he had no idea how to mix it up to actually give me the correct amount.
I have to wonder how they manage to pass high school at times...this is sad.
Picture from Pinterest.
8 people like this
9 responses
@MarieCoyle (59511)
•
12h
We need to somehow get these kids back to some basics of life. How to count, how to do basic life skills (and yes, many could be learned at home, but we won't go there). How to make a budget, shop and cook food, care for a home and a vehicle, and on and on...I look out there and see so many that know how to do one single thing--hold a phone and that's it. It makes me sad.
Public education is in dire need of improvement, I agree.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (382812)
• Rockingham, Australia
2h
@MarieCoyle My friend's husband had this trouble with mature-aged students who were retrenched from their jobs and had to re-train whether they were fitted to the new career or not.
@MarieCoyle (59511)
•
9h
Yes, I know that does happen. It's not right, but it does. They are certainly not doing the kids any favors.
1 person likes this
@toniganzon (77368)
• Philippines
10h
OMg! And yes some of our new staff at the store are the same and I also wondered the same. Not only that, they're very poor at spelling too. I'm shocked how they were able to graduate in high school at all.
These younger generation really have poor education.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (59511)
•
9h
It's just so sad. I know we were required to pass certain things and memorize multiplication tables, had constant spelling tests we had to pass, math levels, etc...it really is shocking.
@wolfgirl569 (136145)
• Marion, Ohio
2h
It is very sad. I wonder how they graduate too. And then how they will manage in college.
@xFiacre (14818)
• Ireland
1h
@mariecoyle Now this is why calculators need to be banned in school, at least until kids have mastered addition and subtraction.
@snowy22315 (209307)
• United States
5h
Most these days rely on computers to do it for them..and they are lost without them
