MATH IS HARD

Math Is Hard

A few days ago, my lovely wife and I were out to dinner with good friends. We chose one of our favorite places, with good food and drinks. Our timing was perhaps less-than-ideal (Friday evening at 5:30), but we got one of the last open tables, and our drinks came quickly as we perused the menu. Food was ordered, and we all sat around the table catching up, sharing recent tales from our lives. All laughs and smiles.

Our server was attentive, checking on our drinks regularly, bringing fresh when needed. She apologized that our dinner was taking so long. “I’m so sorry for your wait, but the kitchen is backed up. Your food should be going in soon. I’ll take 10% off of your food bill because of the delay.” To be honest, we didn’t find the wait excessively lengthy, especially for peak dining hours on a Friday, but 10% off? Sure!

Our meals came, and lived up to our expectations, as they always do at this particular establishment. We dined, chatted, laughed, and enjoyed the evening and company. All too soon, the plates were clean, the glasses drained, and we summoned our server to bring our checks. “Two checks, please!”

A couple minutes later the server returned with our checks, and an unexpected explanation. “Since you have two checks, I split the 10% off between the two checks. 5% off of each.” She dropped off the checks and went back to another table as we all looked at each other incredulously. 

As I said before, the wait really wasn’t excessive, and the discount was not necessary, but we all found this person’s mastery of basic mathematics surprising (if not downright amusing.) This gave us a subject of conversation for the remainder of our stay as we waited for the server to pick up our checks. I even mentioned that we should tip the server 30% for the service, adding 15% to each of our bills!

I’ve intentionally kept our server anonymous, and also am not mentioning the name of the establishment. My intent here is not to embarrass anybody, but to share a bit of amusement. As I write this, I hope that all of you reading this comprehend the error made by our server!

Math is hard…...indeed.

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