Do you know what 398 + 5 is?
Everybody seems to believe that being Asian is some kind of free ride through math class. I’m here to tell you, that’s not the case. Sure, it’s a stereotype, and while most stereotypes have some basis in fact, the exceptions to them always seem to be rather extreme.
Like the checkout girl in the grocery store last week.
Okay, maybe I’m picking on somebody who works a cruddy job, but even so, there are basic levels of math skills I expect from people who have to handle (and count) money as part of their job.
Money in Japan isn’t all that different from money in the US, so there’s no added degree of difficulty here. The main difference is that there are fewer bills and more coins. Three bills – 1000, 5000 and 10000 yen (about $10, $50 and $100, just to round off). There are coins for 100 and 500 yen, which are the cultural equivalent of the American $1 and $5 bills. Since it’s set up like that, I tend to end up with a lot more change here than I ever did in the US. (I think the same goes for other people as well.) Because of that, I try to keep from getting too much back when I’m out shopping.
Sounds reasonable, right?
So I’m in Seiyu (grocery store) one day last week, and I give the girl a ¥1,000 bill for my stuff. I see my change is going to be ¥398, and I’ve got a fair bit already, so I give the cashier a 5 yen coin to make it a much nicer ¥403.
See how easy that bit of math was?
Not for her though. This chick actually pulls out a calculator to do the math on 398 + 5.
WTF?!?
If I’d been in the US, I’d have just said, “yo, it’s 403, chick. Now can we speed this up?” But I’m here (and can’t say numbers in Japanese yet), so I had to settle for rolling my eyes.
Okay, so I can’t say numbers in a language that’s not my own, which is a pretty essential survival skill, but I still say I’m better off than somebody who can’t add two numbers.
I don’t know, so you tell me – who’s the bigger dumbass?