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| bahhhh@engineers |
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| theOriginal |
| 06/02/03 at 11:19:20 |
| [slm] This is funny. ................................................................................................. I had just finished visiting a friend in the hospital and stopped by a burger drive-through for lunch to eat on the way back to work. I ordered the #1 combo (burger, fry, coke) for $4.29. She said "that'll be $4.83, please drive forward." "$4.83?? For a $4.29 meal?? That's 54 cents tax!? That can't be right," my mind raced. Tax is 8 cents on the dollar in Huntsville, Alabama and for 4 dollars that would be 32 cents plus 1/3 (29) of 8 cents would be 35 cents max. I'd heard of window workers overcharging drive through customers and skimming the money for themselves. Someone did just that to me at a Hardees couple of years ago. I didn't have my calculator watch (I lost it a while back) so I got a pen and paper and did the long division since there were 2 cars ahead of me. Let's see ... 483/429 ... over 12 percent tax!? When I got to the window I handed her a 5 and said "what's the sales tax in Huntsville?" She didn't know. I said "$4.83 for a $4.29 meal is 12 percent tax. That can't be right. Can I talk to the manager?" She gave me my change and called the manager. So the manager comes over. I ask what the sales tax is in Huntsville, and she says 8 percent. I say that I just paid $4.83 for a $4.29 meal and that's over 12 percent sales tax. She got a funny look on her face and said that maybe the computer had rung it up wrong or had charged me for the biggie size (biggie upgrade was 35 cents - which would be 4.64 plus tax which would put it over $5). She admitted it was supposed to be 4.63, and opened the drawer to give me my extra change. "HA!" I thought to myself. "Six years engineering school has so heightened my mental mathematical adeptness that I can do percentages in my head and my superior intellect has foiled a feeble attempt by a drive-through worker to overcharge me!" So what did this mathematical wizard do next? I took the twenty cents she handed me, proud of my staggering genius, and smugly drove off without my food. |
| Re: bahhhh@engineers |
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| bhaloo |
| 06/02/03 at 20:51:56 |
| [slm] I try and do the same thing (the calculations in my head), and sometimes they are off and I have to correct the restaurant people. But only once did I go thru the drive thru and forget the food. I drove back, they said, hey your the guy that did the drive through. I'm sure I can find a bunch of lawyer jokes. :) |
| Re: bahhhh@engineers |
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| theOriginal |
| 06/03/03 at 06:20:37 |
| [slm] I'm not a lawyer. I worked for a law firm as an assistant economist...I know it sounds a little odd, and if anyone requires clarification on how that works, I will be more than willing to provide it for you. :D Lawyers are just....ooh...scary. And engineers are just...ooh...weird. I once walked in on my brother's 'chill session' with his 'homies', and I had to do everything to keep from laughing, because they were actually discussing the various forces that were pulling on a glass of bebzi on the table. They were so into it.... Now, I have a reeeeeeeeally funny story about a drivethru experience I had. I was with my cousin in Alabama, and we pulled through a drivethru of (I think it was Mickey D's) some fast food chain, and when we arrived, to the ordering thing, this girl was standing there (outside) with a pen and a clipboard. Girl, smiling way too brightly: Hi, may I take your order please? Cousin, looking super confused: uhh..yeah sure. <places order> Cousin, looking at me: ??? Me, looking at cousin: ??? :-/ ??? Girl: Please go to the first window. So we get to the first window, where we have to pay for the meal, and the lady in there says: Pick your food up at the next window. So at this point, it's just hit us, that the speaker thingy must have been out of order. And we are laughing so hard, because they could save that poor girl the hassle and just make everyone order at the first window.... And we get to the next window! And! The same girl...who took our order, was giving us our food. They actually made her run all the way back inside. That was possibly the funniest experience of my life. |
| Re: bahhhh@engineers |
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| Al-Basha |
| 06/03/03 at 14:39:31 |
| [slm] Heh funny posts, You know all this talk of calculations reminded me of this Cognitive Science class I took called Everyday Cognition Really neat class, anyhow so I read this article about how people who go shopping are often times not only motivated by how much an item is but also the brand name associated with it. Studies show that when the mathematical calculations get too complicated to do in the head, ppl tend to round off and choose accordingly. Or if they have a brand name they trust, they choose to purchase it regardless of the price, even if another brand of equal or better value is cheaper. Fascinating stuff if you ask me. |
| Re: bahhhh@engineers |
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| muahmed |
| 06/03/03 at 20:35:38 |
| [u]You're an engineer if...[/u] you introduce your wife as "mylady@home.wife" your spouse sends you an e-mail instead of calling you to dinner you want an 72X CD-ROM for Christmas you stare at an orange juice container because it says CONCENTRATE you can name 6 Star Trek episodes you have more toys than your kids the only jokes you receive are through e-mail your wrist watch has more computing power than a 486DX-50 your idea of good interpersonal communication means getting the decimal point in the right place you use a CAD package to design your son's Pine Wood Derby car you have used coat hangers and duct tape for something other than hanging coats and taping ducts you window shop at Radio Shack your ideal evening consists of fast-forwarding through the latest sci-fi movie looking for technical inaccuracies you carry on a one-hour debate over the expected results of a test that actually takes five minutes to run you are convinced you can build a phaser out of your garage door opener and your camera's flash attachment you don't even know where the cover to your personal computer is you know the direction the water swirls when you flush you have ever taken the back off your TV just to see what's inside you own one or more white short-sleeve dress shirts you have never backed-up your hard drive you are aware that computers are actually only good for playing games, but are afraid to say it out loud you see a good design and still have to change it the salespeople at Circuit City can't answer any of your questions you still own a slide rule and you know how to work it the thought that a CD could refer to finance or music never enters your mind you own a set of itty-bitty screw drivers, but you don't remember where they are you rotate your screen savers more frequently than your automobile tires you have a functioning home copier machine, but every toaster you own turns bread into charcoal you have introduced your kids by the wrong name you have a habit of destroying things in order to see how they work your IQ number is bigger than your weight you can remember 7 computer passwords but not your anniversary you have ever owned a calculator with no equal key and know what RPN stands for you can type 70 words a minute but can't read your own handwriting people groan at the party when you pick out the music you can't remember where you parked your car for the 3rd time this week your wristwatch has more buttons than a telephone you have more friends on the Internet than in real life you think that when people around you yawn, its because they didn't get enough sleep your wife hasn't the foggiest idea what you do at work you know what http:/ stands for you've ever tried to repair a $5.00 radio your favorite part of the 6 o clock news is comparing their latest satellite weather picture with yours your three year old son asks why the sky is blue and you try to explain atmospheric absorption theory your lap-top computer costs more than your car your 4 basic food groups are: 1. Caffeine 2. Fat 3. Sugar 4. Chocolate |
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