No, the plural of “anecdote” is not “data,” but I had an interesting occurrence this evening. I’m out of town on a job, and had dinner at a little restaurant. Standing at the register to pay, the waitress rang up my total as $15.54. I handed her a $20. She punched $20 on the register, and the display showed “PPPPPPP.”
“Well, that’s different,” I said, as she stared at the display. But when she reached for a calculator, I said “$4.46.”
She looked at me like I’d just pulled a rabbit from a hat. “I can’t do math in my head like that.” She appeared to be about 19 years old.
I weep for our future….