We’re in the grocery store this afternoon and I’m in the produce section buying various salad ingredients. I’m looking at the packages of gorgeous organic white mushrooms which I always buy. A woman, guessing late 20’s – early 30’s is looking at the mushrooms too. In the front of her cart a cute little girl probably about 18 months or so. I can’t help but smile at her.
The Mother looks at me and asks “ how many ounces in a pound?”
“16” I reply (a bit surprised at the question)
So holding the pack of mushrooms and a recipe in hand, she says, so half a pound would be 8…and this (package) is 8.
“Yes” that will be enough.
“Thanks!” and off she goes.
Now I’ve been asked a lot of questions in grocery stores, usually men trying to find some item their wife or GF sent them to fetch. The oddest was an older gentleman trying to find black eyed peas. I pointed him to the aisle and told him to look where the packages of dried beans are. He looked at me with that lost look so I took him to the aisle and showed him the black eyed peas. He didn’t like split pea soup which his wife was planning to make, he readily told me.
But asking me how many ounces in a pound just moved to the top of the list. I’m not here to belittle anyone, maybe she was having a brain fart, an off day, stressed about cooking Easter dinner. I don’t know. I do know that most of us learned how many ounces are in a pound back in grade school. Hopefully she’s better at reading labels on children’s medications than she is at figuring out recipes.
This story doesn’t surprise me. I’d bet that a good percentage of our younger generation doesn’t know how many ounces are in a pound. Maybe it’s information that we pick up in our adult lives as we need? That girl will probably remember now. Let’s hope. lol
I agree. I think we don’t store a lot of information that isn’t relevant in some way.
In a DUI trial I once saw, the Prosecutor asked a witness, “Just how many beers are there in a 12 pack.”
heh
Yeah, many in the younger generation know all sorts of intricate tech stuff which I might never grasp, yet simply don’t store some of the basics.
That *is* pretty funny, though. I would have been polite, but I do think my initial reaction might have been a bit slack-jawed.
And we wonder why other countries are producing more engineers!
They don’t even use the English system, but I bet most foreign students would know there are 16 oz in a pound.
This is not one of my big pet peeves, but it is mighty sad!
*ROTFL* @ the “How many beers in a 12 pack”…..
I’ve heard some crazy things in grocery stores… I met my wife, many many years ago working in a grocery store! *S*
The best ones though, are from kids who work in department stores that don’t know the least bit about math!
When I worked at Foxwoods Casino as a slot technician, I watched as a customer (an older lady) came up to one of the girls with a change cart and asked “How much is a $10.00 roll of quarters?”. I had to admire the girl behind the cart for keeping a straight face when she told her; “That would be $10.00″.
If that hadn’t been enough, the customer then turned and yelled loudly across the rows of slot machines; “Agnes! A $10.00 roll of quarters is $10.00!”. I had to leave at that point.
Janet – You have 2 kids and a D-I-L ask them casually and see how they respond. (I asked mine)
but it did make me smile thinking of the 2 old ladies in front of the slot machine with their quarters.
Liz - but it is relevant. So a person is in a restaurant and orders the 10 ounce Delmonico steak..is that healthy? A normal portion size of meat is 3-4 ounces. If the person knew they were eating over a half pound of meat would they order it?
Laoch – Why did the Prosecutor ask that? Was he being an ass or was it a reflection on the witness?
Cilicious – well my first reaction was “is she serious?” and I did pause a second before answering. And yes, I do agree the younger generation is good at all this intricate tech stuff. You have 2 grown sons, ask them the question and see how they answer.
Ferd - I look forward to reading one of your pet peeves, I’m sure it’s a good one.
Dave – agree, grocery stores one never knows what they may hear or be asked.
Kirk – ok you won….
When I was in school we also learned about how many ounces in a pound, and cup……etc.
Then about 12 years ago they decided to go metric so now it is how many grams in a pound or how many quarts in a liter etc.
while looking through the flyers they will give you the price in a kilo which is 2,2lbs so it is up to us who were taught one way to learn the other way………only in Canada AH
BTW never let them change you over to metric system because now every thing is shrinking , one way for the companies to rip us off………..especially when we use to buy gas by the gallon now we by it buy the litre so how much are we really paying for a gallon of gas………..
Having been a teacher, I can only bemoan the current state of our education system…
I asked Brian how many ounces in a pound and he replied: ” I don’t know…. 16?” But he didn’t think that it was useful information. The other two are in Michigan for vacation.
Enjoyed everyone’s response here.
Hi there,
Back a few years ago, just after the invasion of Iraq, when the insurgents were at their peek I heard that President Bush was informed that 2 Brazilian soldiers had been killed in an ambush.
Obviously upset by the news he was overheard to ask exactly how many is a brazilian!
Boom boom
Hi, I found you via A View From the Pines. Long ago, I was a directory assistance operator for AT&T. Most people still refer to it as “information”, and that’s what they want. You’d be surprised (or maybe not) at all the unusual questions I’ve been asked through the years! While I’m amused at those simple questions like how many ounces in a pound, I’m also a little frightened. It scares me to think of the lack of common knowledge the younger generation has. Oh, well, I guess that’s what our parents thought about us, too!