Rant

When the cupboard gets bare and the world has been a bit frustrating, I occasionally head to Mickey D's for breakfast instead of scrounging and scraping something together from the depths of the cabinets. Besides I deserve a splurge from time to time, don't I?

So.... this morning I headed to my nearby junkfood outlet and placed my order at the box. Simple order: Sausage McMuffin (no cheese) and small OJ. The voice through the box asks if I want the meal. What the heck! It won't be that much more, so "Sure!". Then he announces that'll be $4.76. WHAT!!!!! "Could you please redisplay the ticket on the screen?" "No, I've already cleared it and will have it corrected at the window." *very large sigh*

Drive around the corner and get to window only to be informed that the cost is indeed $4.76. Now, let's stop and think a moment. The Sausage McMuffin is listed as $1.89 on the board. The small OJ is $1.00. I hadn't looked at the price of the hash browns (what makes this a meal), since I wasn't originally planning on getting them, but even at their worst it's about $1.00. $1.89 + $1.00 + $1.00 = $3.89 (plus tax - which is nowhere near 20%). Shoot! Even the Sausage McMuffin WITH EGG meal has a price of $3.69 before tax.

Nope! Wasn't buying that figure. The clerk at the window doesn't see anything wrong with the total. After all, the computer said it. It must be right! I grouse. The assistant manager comes to the window and pushes keys on the computer to come up with $4.65. Nope! Wasn't buying that figure either.

They get the manager. HE tried to convince me that my plain-Jane McMuffin was a big seller and that's why it cost more. Again. I'm not buying. I even had to tell him that the price for what I wanted was $1.89 on the board AND where it was located in the vast array of choices out there. I also groused that there wasn't a "meal" price available on the board, so there was no quick and easy way for me to tell him what the "meal" price should be. ('Though the guy SHOULD have known all of this, if he's the manager. I know! I know! My expectations may be set a bit too high.)

I think the guy saw that I was about to explode and take my business elsewhere, so he said "How would $2.05 be?" Well, DUH! Of course I agreed. I truly had no desire to take advantage of the situation and wanted to pay what was fair. However, there was at least one car waiting behind me and I didn't want to start arguing that I'd be glad to pay $3.50, which was about what I had expected it to be.

While I'm irked at this particular part of this particular Evil Empire, I think what irritated me more was the realization that there'd be a fairly large number of people who would not even think twice about the incorrect amount originally quoted. Far too many people trust that the computer must be right, that there could be no human error OR no internal calculation error on the part of the computer.

Even the manager ultimately didn't see what was wrong with the numbers. He was just placating an irrate customer. I'd kept a basic estimate of the cost running in my head and knew immediately that something was wrong. How many people wouldn't even have thought, or been able, to do that much?

Computers are wonderful tools. But they aren't perfect. If we don't have the skills to double-check their calculations, even through rough guesstimate, then we are leaving ourselves vulnerable to being overcharged (in the case of financial transactions) or even harm to our lives or death (if one considers the possible miscalculation of medication dosages or even the fuel consumption of an airplane).

I'm so glad that I was taught how to do basic arithmetic without calculators or computers!