I went to my H-E-B pharmacy the other day to pick up my prescriptions. My total came to $59.82, before my coupon for $15 off one of the medications.
The gen-Y pharmacy clerk, Brandy, looked at my coupon, looked at the total and thought for a minute. She said, “So your total is now $44.82.”
I was so impressed. It’s rare that I find a clerk, especially a younger clerk, who will confidently do basic mental arithmetic. Almost all of the clerks I’ve encountered would’ve reached for a calculator to do that $15 subtraction!
What’s Brandy story?
I didn’t have a chance to talk to her long, but it turns out that she’s a chemistry student who’s also looking to get a teaching certificate. Yay, Brandy!
I’m quite curious how she remained confident in her abilities to do mental math. Did she learn math at a public or private school or was she homeschooled? At what age was she allowed a calculator?
What’s your story?
Are you a calculator addict like I was or are you confident in your mental arithmetic? How did you get the way you are? What can you do to help your children be great arithmeticians?
Please share your story and/or thoughts in the comments. And keep your fingers crossed that we can get Brandy in here to share more of her story!
Note: Banner and feature image for this article are by euthman on Flickr.com CC-BY-SA.
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