Rant on Fast Food Rocket Scientists

[Opa]

One of my customers, a fast food executive, gave me some coupons that were good for a double cheese burger or a 6 piece chicken nugget with small fries and small drink. When I redeemed one yesterday the girl charged me for the fries and drink. When I pointed out her mistake she said that my coupon was for a free burger with the purchase of ..... I tried patiently to explain that the coupon didn't say, she quite snootily said "well that's what it means'. Finally she went and got her manager, who might have been 1 year older, and he agreed with her. I knew I was right for 2 reasons, first I can read and second, the executive who gave them to me said they were for a free burger, fries, and drink. I just gave up and paid. The total now was $2.12, then before I handed her my money she saw the singles in my hand and keyed in $3. When I handed her $2.12 she became noticeably irritated.

My rant isn't about this one incident but the overall deterioration of education in this country. I constantly hear about how much information is available to kids today and how advanced things have become due to calculators and computers. But go shopping and you find so many kids lacking even basic math skills. Why can't these kids read or make change?

We pour more money into our education system than just about anywhere in the world but our children aren't benefitting from the expenditure. I'm not opposed to higher taxes to pay to educate our county's children, even though these higher taxes will soon make me unable to live in my own home. What I do object to is not seeing much return for my money. My children are all grown so I'm not worried about their education, but if you have school aged children you should be worried. You need to verify your childs abilities and if they aren't able to read or make change you need to make a lot of noise with your local school board. Demand the education for your child that you and I are paying for. I sure none of you want your children to be fast food rocket scientists.

 

[Steve]

Preaching to the choir.

Had a similar expierience just yesterday and the cashier was the manager.

 

[B. Saffles Farms]

Well said. Ive worried about the same thing myself. Having 1 DS in school, and a DD who will be starting school, next year, I keep a close check on what goes on with education.I make sure DS can do math, read, spell, etc..
It dissapoints me greatly to see the money going to education, but seeing nothing in return.

 

[Trollkiller]

This is why we home school.

 

[1acrefarm]

I think many times when it comes to employees you get what you pay for.

 

[Widget]

People after my own heart. I worked retail for way too many years and was about the only person in the store who could actually count change back to a customer. I think I surprised many people when I did that. I guess they didn't expect a cashier who could actually count And as a closer I was the only one who never used a calculator to close out the registers. Pen and paper? Yes. But never a calculator. For basic math there is no need for one. Even now where I work I am the only person who doesn't routinely use a calculator. Really how hard is it to add 2+2?

 

[The Chicken Lady]

As a high school teacher, I'd like to point out that there are a number of factors that contribute to an educated society.

The majority of educators are extremely informed professionals. Most will hold at least a master's degree in their subject area by the time they have been teaching for 10 years. As in any profession, there are some that are better at the job than others; I could point out a few where I work as examples and non-examples of successful teachers.

Sometime, if you're bored, Google something called "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs." The theory behind this is that children need to have certain things in their lives before they are ready to learn. Many of these needs are environmental and social. These things include having adequate food and clothing, warmth, a supportive family environment, and suitable limits. These are things that they need before they are able to sit down in a classroom and really be ready to learn. Not all children have access to these things, and it is very sad.

The school lunch program (and breakfast program) in the United States is an example of a something that is direct result of research around the Hierarchy of Needs.

Additionally, not all schools have access to the same types of teaching materials because of budget cuts. It's hard to be cutting-edge with education when you're teaching with books and materials that are 20 years old, yet education is one of the first things the government cuts when it is having budget problems...it's just the nature of things.
For anyone who doesn't know, public schools are basically funded based on the property values/taxes on the homes in the school district. This is an institutional policy that allows wealthy areas to have better schools and poorer areas to have less adequate schools. Better schools attract better teachers, especially in the areas of science and math.

While I don't doubt that the two individuals at the fast-food restaurant needed to brush up on their math skills -- or perhaps didn't have access to an adequate education growing up -- I just want you to consider the bigger picture of what's probably going on.

 

[Wifezilla]

I think many times when it comes to employees you get what you pay for.

Oh HECK yeah!

Good, dedicated, intelligent employees are not valued and make the same as the mouth-breathers.

Another thing you have to understand is the chain store business model. Once a region gets to a certain population density, the chain stores move in. They then act like a money siphon.... pumping cash out of the community while only creating one living wage (the manager) and a bunch of part-time/minimum wage jobs.

The city that actively recruits these businesses gets to brag about the "jobs" they created. At the same time they give tax credits, tax exemptions, regulation waivers and other benefits to these out of state entities while putting the regulatory squeeze on family owned businesses.​

 

[Wifezilla]

not all schools have access to the same types of teaching materials because of budget cuts

Our grandparents learned how to read and write using a slate and some chalk. One textbook was shared by an entire class. Now they have the internet, public libraries, and more access to information than ever before in the history of man. Yet, they are getting dumber.​

 

[CarriBrown]

I think it has a lot to do with the "woe is me" and the "I'm entitled to everything and anything" views of the younger generation.