Simple Arithmetic & Education Woes

I'm back and I hope my post sparks your interest.

In a different blog, I earlier wrote that the quality of Philippine education can be accurately assessed by the people who man (or wo-man) the department stores. Today, I realized that the cashier can also be a good indicator. In two separate instances (actually two fastfood joints), I was reminded that the quality of education in the Philippines is continually degenerating.

Probably this is my version of Freakonomics, but just by observing them you learn a lot of things. During lunch time today, I was with a friend and we went to a restaurant to (obviously) eat. It was already 1:00 in the afternoon so people were sparse and some tables were not yet cleaned.

We found a place to settle in and proceeded to the counter to order. After ordering, the comely cashier politely said, "Sir, total bill is Php 210.00."

I leafed through the bills on my breast pocket and realized that I had a 500.00 bill. I also knew that I had a couple of coins in my infamous coin purse (people who have seen it swear at me because I also store bills in it. It's a quirk).

So I replied, "I'll just give you Php 510.00."

The cashier just stared at me then accepted my bill. The cash register opened up and she took out Php 280.00 and gave it to me. "Here's your change."

For a moment there, I froze and my neurons sparked like wildfire sending signals to my mouth as it uttered the words, "Miss, shouldn't I get Php 300.00?"

The cashier was taken aback so her colleague came over and realized the situation. She asked her how much I gave and how much the bill was. The error was rectified thereafter. In what would be an embarrasing situation, her colleague took out a calculator and gently showed her why it was 300.00.

I thought that was that... who would have thought?

During the afternoon, I was to have a light snack with somebody.

Same scene, except that the restaurant was packed because it was mid-afternoon. After finding a quaint table, we decided to order already. After finishing our order, the cashier told me, "Your bill is Php 202.00."

I gave her a 1,000 bill, and she asked if I had 2.00 coins to which I answered in the affirmative.

The cash register opens and she gives me - surprise surprise - 790.00. What the...?

Anyway, it was resolved shortly thereafter.

Two times in a day? Maybe it's because of their harried state. But in the first instance, I and my friend were the only customer in line. I would believe this to be so for the second instance, but still....

People talk about the brain drain here and I couldn't agree more. In my current work, it's been a month already but I've only gotten a mishmash of so-so applicants for critical positions in my division. I thought that there are many people out there looking for jobs? It's either applicants are picky or there's no pool of quality applicants to pick from. So the story continues...