How do they know?!
This morning I went to the post office and had three letters to post.
One was $3. Simple enough. Postman gave me a $3 stamp.
The second was $11.80. Postman gave a $10 stamp and a $1.80 stamp. How did he work out so quickly that they were the two best combinations of stamps to make up the total?
The third was something like $28.40. I think he gave me a $20 stamp, a $5.40 stamp and a $3 stamp. It took me longer to add up the totals of the three stamps than it did for the postman to choose which ones he wanted and get them out of the book. (OK, slight exaggeration...I'm really not that slow at my math...but it makes my point!)
I have always wondered how the post people know what stamps make up the right amount. I mean, sometimes big parcels require 6 or more stamps, and there can be several parcels, each with a different total requiring a different collection of stamps. How do they work out which denominations of stamps make up the right total?! They never seem to refer to a chart, or have to take time to think about it. It confounds me how they know!
After the post office, I went to the supermarket. The cashiers always seem to know off the top of their heads what the code is for the fruit and vegies that are passing over the scanner. How do they know?!? And how can they tell that I have 4 oranges (for $10) in my plastic bag and not 4 small grapefuit (for $18)? And how do they know that I didn't get 3 oranges and sneak a grapefuit in to make up the 4th piece?
One was $3. Simple enough. Postman gave me a $3 stamp.
The second was $11.80. Postman gave a $10 stamp and a $1.80 stamp. How did he work out so quickly that they were the two best combinations of stamps to make up the total?
The third was something like $28.40. I think he gave me a $20 stamp, a $5.40 stamp and a $3 stamp. It took me longer to add up the totals of the three stamps than it did for the postman to choose which ones he wanted and get them out of the book. (OK, slight exaggeration...I'm really not that slow at my math...but it makes my point!)
I have always wondered how the post people know what stamps make up the right amount. I mean, sometimes big parcels require 6 or more stamps, and there can be several parcels, each with a different total requiring a different collection of stamps. How do they work out which denominations of stamps make up the right total?! They never seem to refer to a chart, or have to take time to think about it. It confounds me how they know!
After the post office, I went to the supermarket. The cashiers always seem to know off the top of their heads what the code is for the fruit and vegies that are passing over the scanner. How do they know?!? And how can they tell that I have 4 oranges (for $10) in my plastic bag and not 4 small grapefuit (for $18)? And how do they know that I didn't get 3 oranges and sneak a grapefuit in to make up the 4th piece?
posted by KT @ 2:03 pm
1 Comments:
At 8:01 pm,
Anonymous said…
I;ve always wondered these things too. At woolworths they have a chart with fruits on it and apparently the managers quiz everyone randomly to see if they know the prices and what the fruits actually are. (You find out a lot shopping v late at night)
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