"Cub Driver" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 16 Jan 2005 22:28:25 GMT, "Colin W Kingsbury"
wrote:

he proper way to
make change. If you've been taught the one simple trick (counting it out
backwards from pennies up)

This began to go out of the knowledge base when calculators became
common. (And was cemented when cash registers began to provide the
return-change information.)

I told you not to get me started...

The part about this that drives me nuts is that the counting-up way is
*both* faster *and* easier than counting down. It takes you a few minutes to
get the hang of and then you'll never forget how to do it. The math required
is even easier and less prone to error, which is the whole point. I learned
it working the counter in a New York pizzeria where if it took you more than
a few seconds, you'd have ten people in line screaming for your head.

I was once in a supermarket when the power went out. The cashiers all
stood are slack-jawed: nobody knew how to add up a bill!

This is easy until you have to deal with taxes. It's easy enough in Mass.
(5%) but in places like NY where it's odd numbers like 7.5% it's kinda
tricky.

-cwk.