I was asking her to divide the total amount of money in front of her into 4 equal parts but she couldn’t do it. I saw her set aside a few bills.
Cashier—–“May sobra?”
Me———-“Magkano?”
Cashier—–“3,240 po”
Me———-“Ulitin mo. Isama mo yang sobra, dapat equal yung 4, same amount. Doesn’t have to be of the same denominations. Actually, the total amount is divisible by 4 kaya walang sobra dapat”.
Me——-“So magkano ang total pera na nasa iyo?”
Cashier——“113,000”
(CORRECT AMOUNT: 50,000 pesos only)
Me——“So, tig magkakano yung apat?”
Cashier—-“Tig twenty-something po”
Me—“Hindi pwedeng may something. Dapat eksakto ang sagot mo.”
1:07 pm
Me——“Na-divide mo na sa four?”
Cashier——“Hindi pa mam?”
Me—–“Hindi pa? Ang konti lang ng pera”
Cashier——“Sorry mam, mahina ako sa math.”
Me—–“Give up?”
She looked at me with a tinge of agreement. But I can’t let her give-up. This is a very simple task and I can’t believe that she can’t do this. I am rooting for her and I genuinely want her to pass this test.
Me——Tig-magkakano?”
(Total amount divided by 4 = ???? How much should each one gets?)
Cashier—–“Pasensya na mam, wala kasi akong calculator.”
Me—–“I am so disappointed. Kahit high school graduate kaya yang bilangin. I can’t believe that you can’t even count that correctly. Ang konti lang nyan. Paano ka magiging cashier?”
(I finished my water. At this point pikon na ako sa kanya. Hindi na sya nakakatuwa.)
Me—–“Okay, I will make this simpler. Halimbawa meron akong 1,000 pesos that I want to give to 4 people. One thousand divided by 4?”
Cashier—–“8,200”
Me——“One thousand lang ang hahatiin mo paano naging 8,200?”
Cashier—–“Eight hundred plus po, sorry po”
Me———-“So yung one thousand pesos, hatiin mo sa apat, bawat isang tao tig-800 plus?”
Cashier—–“Opo”
(Oh my God, tila kumukulo na ang tyan ko. 800 x 4 = 3,200)
Me——“Sooooo, sa apat na tao, magkano yun?”
She didn’t know what to do. She got the paper and pencil and kept erasing vigorously.
Me—–“One thousand pesos lang ang hahatiin mo sa apat, can you not do mental calculation?”
Cashier—–“Sorry mam, mahina ako sa math.”
I wasn’t happy to hear her say that repeatedly. This is only simple arithmetic– addition, subtraction, multiplication, division. What is so difficult dividing 1,000 pesos by 4. I think Antonia, or Bonifacia can do that. O Antonia eto ang isang libo, hati-hati kayo nila Norma. I am sure mabilis pa sa alas kwatro hati-hati na yun.
Me—–“So magkano ang total para sa apat na tao?”
Cashier—–“Three thousand plus….”
Me—–“Huwag mo akong bigyan ng plus. Kailangan eksakto.”
Cashier—–“3,200”
It was getting late, I still have three more places to go after this.
Me——“Balik tayo sa 1,000 pesos. Kasi, one thousand lang ang pera ko, hindi ako pwedeng mamigay ng 3,200.”
Cashier—-“Tig tu-two hundred lang mam”
(Oops mabuti naman bumaba na, kanina tig-800 per person daw.)
Me—–“So kung apat na tao ang bibigyan ko ng 200 bawat isa, magkano total na ipapamigay ko?”
Cashier—–“Four hundred po mam.”
(I am now as confused as she is. Nalito na rin ako. Ano kamo? Whatcho saying?”
Me—–“Magkano na lang matitira sa akin? I will repeat my question in case nalito ka. I have 1,000 pesos and I want to give it away to 4 people.”
Cashier—-“Two hundred twenty isa”
Me—–“220 sa 4 na tao, magkano?”
Cashier—–“980”
(CORRECT ANSWER: P 220 x 4 = P 880.
(Ano ba yan kapatid, kapamilya, kapuso, katrabaho, ano naman daw yang sagot na yan. Itayo mo naman ang bandera ng University of the East.)
Me——“980, may sukli pa ako?”
Cashier—–“20 pesos”
Me—–“Ayoko ng may matira sa akin so dapat walang sukli. Gusto kong ipamigay ang 1,000 sa apat na tao, so tig-magkakano sila?”
Cashier—–“225”
Me—–“Magkano 225 x 4?”
Cashier—– “890”
(Lola, ano na namang sagot yan, saan ba yan galing? Sino ba titser mo sa grade 4 ha?)
Legend of Arithmetic Part 3
