"Rod Speed" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Rhonda Anderson" > wrote in message
> .5...
>> "Edwin Pawlowski" > wrote in
>> :
>>
>>>
>>> "mslinda" > wrote in message
>>>> Yesterday I got stuck behind a pair of those morons who can only buy
>>>> what they have cash in their pocket for, get too much and have to
>>>> have items removed *one by one* until they get down to an amount they
>>>> can pay for. If I knew I had only so much cash to spend, I'd be
>>>> totalling my take before I got to the checkout but I guess that never
>>>> ocurred to these dweebs.
>>>>
>>>> Linda C.
>>>>
>>>
>>> It is an education issue. If they were smart enough to add it up in
>>> their heads, they would probably be smart enough have a better job and
>>> could afford to buy what they want.
>>>
>>
>> Well, I'd like to think I'm not too dumb! I can add up in my head, am
>> tertiary educated and have a decent job. Doesn't mean I can afford to buy
>> what I want (I wish!) <g>.I do, however, have the common sense to add it
>> up as I go around if I want to make sure I stick to the budget, or if I
>> have a certain amount of cash on me and don't want to pay in a different
>> manner.I make it a habit to tally as I go, either using a calculator if I
>> remembered to throw one in my bag, or using it as an exercise in mental
>> arithmetic. That way I don't get a shock at the cash register - sometimes
>> that total gets awfully big awfully quickly!
>>
>> Unfortunately, common sense isn't all that common! Behaviour that gets
>> you labelled by others as a moron isn't limited to people who aren't
>> "smart".
>>
>> One thing - it's easy enough here to add up as you go as the GST (Goods &
>> Services Tax) is included in the marked price, so the price on the
>> item/shelf is the price you pay at the register. I've wondered at times
>> how easy it is to do when the sales tax is added at the register,
>
> Trivial if you are numerate and the tax applys to all articles.
>
>> which is what happens in the US isn't it?
>
> Yes.
>

Tax does not apply to all articles in all states. Here in North Carolina
most grocery items are exempt from sales tax but other items you'd by at a
grocery store, such as paper products, are not.

BTW it is silly to think that the ability to add things up in your head has
anything to do with intelligence.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.