Making Change Can Be Hard: Some Penniless Thoughts on Those 'Damn Kids These Days…'

Constantly on the lookout for Canadian mathematics education matters, because if Canadian mathematics education matters then Canadian mathematics education matters, three young university bookstore employees, university students, unable to make proper change when I handed them a five dollar bill for a sticker I was purchasing for my laptop, absolutely crushed my spirit. As they say though, it is not what happens to you, rather it is how you react to what happened to you. As such, rising from what I am now calling "the sticker incident," this article is a many part investigation into the oft-heard phrase "Damn kids these days cannot make change without a calculator." Under examination: the subtraction skills of a particular subset of adult employees not often asked to prove their arithmetic resolve; detailing a personal mistake I made while making change in a big spot; recounting a retelling of a mistake that has haunted someone for many years; detailing which particular customers cashiers need to be worried about when making change (old men with coin purses); wonderings as to why stories about making change do not reflect our now penniless country; and, a brief look at the future responsibilities of cashless immigrants. With this particular matter now in the rearview mirror, I am back in the wild looking for other Canadian mathematics education matters. Stay tuned.