Several years ago I was picking up some building materials from a Home Depot like store. I had a cart with about 12 drywall panels, 10 or so 2X4s, spackle, nails etc.. The cashier rings it up and says that’ll be $32.28…or something like that. I said “I don’t think that’s right. You want to check it?” She scowls back at me “That’s what the machine says” I handed her my card and said “OK, have it your way” as my friend starts to wheel the cart out of the store.
The guy on line behind me saw all this who saw all this says “You got a good deal. Probably makes up for the times you’ve been overcharged. The prices here are ridiculous”.
We figured out that she only charged me for one drywall panel and one 2X4 but the real problem was she was clueless as to how much the stuff on the cart should have cost…not even a ballpark number.

From a former photography club member's FB page. (around 2005)

My husband and I went through the McDonald's driveway window and I gave the cashier a $5 bill.
Our total was $4.25, so I also handed her 25c.
She said, 'you gave me too much money.'
I said, 'Yes I know, but this way you can just give me a dollar back.'
She sighed and went to get the manager who asked me to repeat my request.
I did so, and he handed me back the 25c, and said 'We're sorry but we don’t do that kind of thing.'
The cashier then proceeded to give me back 75 cents in change.
Do not confuse the people at MacD's.

We had to have the garage door repaired.
The repairman told us that one of our problems was that we did not have a 'large' enough motor on the opener.
I thought for a minute, and said that we had the largest one made at that time, a 1/2 horsepower.
He shook his head and said, 'You need a 1/4 horsepower.'
I responded that 1/2 was larger than 1/4 and he said, 'NOOO, it's not. Four is larger than two.'
We haven't used that repairman since...

I live in a semi rural area.
We recently had a new neighbor call the local city council office to request the removal of the DEER CROSSING sign on our road.
The reason: 'Too many deer are being hit by cars out here! I don't think this is a good place for them to be crossing anymore.'

IDIOT SIGHTING IN FOOD SERVICE.
My daughter went to a Mexican fast food and ordered a taco.
She asked the person behind the counter for 'minimal lettuce.'
He said he was sorry, but they only had iceberg lettuce.

I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an airport employee asked,
'Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?'
To which I replied, 'If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?'
He smiled knowingly and nodded, 'That's why we ask.'

The pedestrian light on the corner beeps when it's safe to cross the street.
I was crossing with an 'intellectually challenged' co-worker of mine.
She asked if I knew what the beeper was for.
I explained that it signals blind people when the light is red.
Appalled, she responded, 'what on earth are blind people doing driving?!'
She is a government employee.....

When my wife and I arrived at a car dealership to pick up our car after a
service, we were told the keys had been locked in it.
We went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver’s side door.
As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was unlocked.
‘Hey,' I announced to the technician, 'its open!'
His reply, 'I know. I already did that side.'
STAY ALERT!

Enjoy,
Mark

My wife gets embarassed when I challenge the mental agility of people working thoughtlessly in shops and restaurants. For example:
A saleswoman was standing by the supermarket exit with her clipboard ready to ambush us as we were leaving.
"May I ask sir if he might be interested in a Dolphin Shower fitted in your home?"
"No thank you, I wouldn't", I replied.
"May I ask you why not, Sir?" she persisted, with pen poised to fill in her form.
"We don't have a dolphin or any other pets", I told her, struggling to keep a straight face.
Her face told me that she had never had anyone come back with that reply before. Meanwhile my wife was berating me for yet another rude display. I just can't help myself when presented with people who just don't seem to see what they are actually saying.

Change isn’t the only thing, none of them can do math. For a few years I taught automotive at a tech school. At that time I had an electrical class and I was going over Ohm’s Law. The question was how many amps are there if the volts are 12 and the resistance is 12. Ohm’s law says volts divided by ohms equals amps. The student said I can’t do that, can I use my calculator? Sure I said. After he got the answer of 1, he still didn’t believe it. I had to confirm. It’s not the world that will be in trouble, mostly just the USA. Unfortunately they have dumbed down education even more.

Thank you all, for the many responses, remarks and anecdotes. My title was "Old, but still funny". I began my teaching career in 1960 and retired in 1998 (all mathematics). My first assignment was 8th grade mathematics. I taught the skills of fractions, decimals, percent, basic geometry, some algebra and my own additions to the curriculum which consisted of memorizing decimal and fraction equivalents, many prime numbers, formulas for area, squares of the numbers 1 - 25, elementary banking, keeping a checkbook and other pragmatic requirements of being a good citizen. These and many other skills are no longer taught in elementary education. Due to the very rapid escalation of technology and the invention of the "chip", scientific calculators, cell-phones, computers, browser searching, many of the aforementioned skills I taught, are no longer necessary. The difficulty for we older people is to rationalize the absence of the skills we had learned. The experiences of our mathematical mental agility compared to the current generations (Millennial and younger) is shocking. My grandchildren are able to manipulate their cell phones faster than I can talk! The available calculators are common place for them and they know how to use them.

I too fall prey to laughing and criticizing the "younger generations" for their lack of knowledge of basic arithmetic and pragmatic (as I see it) skill sets in everyday life. But as someone pointed out, the current registers in the stores indicate the numbers of coins and bills to make change for a transaction. I seldom pay cash for transactions in stores. I use a credit card and I observe most other patrons doing the same. So, in contrast, the younger generations do not have the same requirements for everyday citizenry. I stopped keeping and balancing a checkbook, posting transactions in Quicken in 2010. I do check my transactions (daily) online. In almost 12 years, I've yet to find an arithmetic error online. My monthly statements are available online. I seldom use cash. Almost all my transactions are via auto payments online or via my credit cards. I check those daily.

I am not trying to be contrary to many of "we older" UHHers. I'm simply conveying that for the younger generations, their reality for a successful citizenry is different than ours.
But, in spite of my understanding, in my mind I criticize and laugh at the "stupidity" and am frequently shocked.

Thank you for your comments, personal anecdotes!
Mark