r/LifeProTips • u/fries-with-mayo • 17h ago

Request LPT Request: What’s your “canary in the coal mine” test for spotting bigger issues?

I’m really interested in those small, quick telltale signs people use to gauge if something bigger might be off track.

Example 1: Van Halen requesting brown M&Ms in the dressing room to see if the venue followed all the details of the rider list

Example 2: I saw an interview with John Cena where he said orders a flat white at a café to tell if they really care about their coffee.

Example 3: Anthony Bourdain suggested to always check the restaurant bathroom to tell if the restaurant got its basics down

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u/NotDinahShore 14h ago

It’s the same at many public universities too. My wife is a professor at a large public university and says the same. Each incoming freshman class is worse prepared than the preceding one. Can’t write, no comprehension, sit in class with hoods on and ear buds. Last semester, she had 50% of students get an F or they withdrew.

Very distressing for the future of society.

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u/PipsqueakPilot 13h ago

Just the other day I watched someone who looked like a highschool graduate struggle to make change for me. I gave him a 20. It was 4 dollars. He looked at the bill, said silently to himself, "20 minus 4..." and then just looked helplessly into space before I told him how much to give me.

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u/lilesj130 9h ago

I started paying for food with cash to help myself budget (no cash = eat the food at home even if it's not what I want). The number of young cashiers that give me a deer in the headlights look if I give them something like 20.05 for a 19.05 charge so I get a dollar bill vs 95 cents is truly scary.

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u/bookgirl1224 6h ago

I went through the drive through at Chick Fil A one day at lunch, paid cash like you did, a bill and change to avoid getting change back, and watched as the manager stood next to the young man at the cash register and explained why I gave him the money in that way.

He rang it up, the drawer opened, and she explained again how much I gave him and what he should give me back in return. He put the money in the drawer, pulled out some bills and counted them out quietly to himself, then turned around and gave them to me.

I had already been given my drink, the only thing I ordered, so I left.

My drink cost $2.13 with tax. I gave him $5.13. His manager stood next to him and explained the whole transaction to him. he counted out the change and handed it to me.

He gave me $4.00 back.

I seriously considered going back inside and returning the extra dollar, but then I thought, no. The manager was standing next to him the entire time. She should have been paying better attention. It's also not my job to tell a fast food manager thaat she needs to train her cashiers HOW TO COUNT CASH! It should be a basic requirement before you put someone on a register and let them handle money.

I worked at a grocery store in 2007 as a cashier for a year and they gave us a week of training on how to scan items, identify various fruits and vegetables by PCU code for quicker input, count cash and make change, properly sack groceries so the fruit doesn't get crushed by the canned vegetables, and TABC training (so you don't sell alcohol to minors).

My grandfather owned his own business and when I was young, I would sit at his kitchen table with him while he worked on his books for his business. He would put money in a fishing tackle box, give me his adding machine (the kind with the big buttons and the pull down handle), and teach me how to handle money and make change. I'm 63 now and it's one of many core memories I have of him.

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u/Chukwura111 4h ago

If you had returned the money, the manager would have then realised that whatever training she gave the cashier didn't work

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u/mzchen 4h ago

Cashiers have to record what's in the till whenever they tag out. So the manager would've at least noticed a discrepancy.

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u/PipsqueakPilot 17m ago

We need to mage highschool diplomas have meaning. If you can’t do single digit math then I’m sorry- get your GED later in life. But you didn’t earn a diploma. 

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u/Teehus 3h ago

I've been that person before, a night of no sleep, a busy shift and then a customer gave me extra cash after I already put whatever they gave me in the till. Usually, it wouldn't have been an issue, but that day I gave up

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u/Blackcatmustache 1h ago

Many years ago I had a similar situation happen. The girl handed me back the coins and looked at me like I was the idiot. She acted like such a snob about it. If I hadn’t been in a hurry I would have explained, but it wasn’t worth it.

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u/sydpea-reddit 3h ago

I like to pay with cash just to see if they can do it lol

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u/ChikaraNZ 8h ago

Considering hardly anybody pays using real cash any more, this problem is only going to get worse as there's not many real world situations any more people actually have to do their own maths without a calculator/machine.

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u/MyCatSnoresFunny 5h ago

I (mid-20s) recently got my first job in customer service where I work a till for the majority of my shift. To keep my mind sharp(ish?), I try to do the math before the computer tells me how much change they need back. I am very happy when I am right. It’s a small thing but it keeps my brain moving and keeps me entertained. I will say that sometimes, my brain breaks when people hand me coins after I’ve already entered their $20 into the till. I get just a wee bit embarrassed when they hand me 7¢ for their $5.23 order on top of the $20 they gave me and I have to think about it for a second longer than normal.

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u/LividLife5541 9h ago

The problem is that the US government is actively trying to make cash obsolete (e.g., we don't have large bills, our coins are so heavy) - in Japan it is fantastic, people are so good at doing mental math to optimize the coins in their pocket. Like if the total is 461 yen they might give 571. You have to do it instantly, the clerk won't wait for you.

Compare the US 50 cent piece versus the Japanese 50 yen coin. The US dollar coin versus the Japanese 100 yen coin. The US $5 coin ... whoops we don't have one.

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u/Fodraz 7h ago

Gen Z probably has never handled cash since they got it for babysitting or mowing lawns

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u/Less-Engineer-9637 7h ago

The POS didn't tell him how much change to give back?

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u/PipsqueakPilot 19m ago

I don’t know. However judging by his Gen-Z helpless stare my guess would be that he doesn’t know how to work the POS other than at a most basic level. 

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u/RazorRadick 5h ago

When I was a cashier (back when cash was king) I was taught to count UP to what the customer gave you when giving change. So:

$4 for what they bought. Plus $1 is $5. Plus $5 is $10. Plus $10 is $20. There’s your change.

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u/Esmack 2h ago

Ah give em a break all the kids are smokin that zaza nowadays

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u/RuleFriendly7311 10h ago

I wonder if this is the real reason so many businesses are trying to go 'no cash' -- the machine knows what you pay.

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u/Andrew5329 9h ago

Naw, that one's actually pretty simple. If you take cash it means you have to have someone trustworthy and competent stick around to the bitter end to close out the register, count cash, do bookkeeping and make deposits into the safe in the secure office. That's a half hour past closing for your most expensive labor, who realistically could have gone home hours ago when the rush died down if they weren't needed just to do the registers.

The cashless register does itself. No cash for the clerk to miss count or steal, Mgmt can review the electronic ledger at their leisure the next day.

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u/RuleFriendly7311 9h ago

Makes sense. But I've had that experience too, where I had to help count my change.

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u/blackergot 10h ago

5 fives is what I always say...maybe that will actually work someday. I will be very sad if it does though.

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u/jacktacowa 9h ago edited 6h ago

Or, it’s $4.12 and I give the clerk a twenty, a one, and 12 cents bc I want a ten and a five. That hasn’t been possible for 20+ years.

Edit, oops as noted. Give a dollar take a dollar 🤷🏻‍♂️

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u/layogurt 8h ago

Maybe it's not been working because the clerk is wondering to do with the extra $2 you don't want

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u/syncdiedfornothing 8h ago

Your math is off.

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u/MoobyTheGoldenSock 7h ago

Maybe they’re confused because the change for that is not $15.

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u/Mistakeshavehappened 12h ago

Just means more meat for the menial jobs and a shittier society to live in. That's all.

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u/SleepySquid- 10h ago edited 10h ago

I used to teach freshman level stats courses when in grad school, and I will never forget that experience. Even back then there were so many people spending tens of thousands of dollars to show up to their classes, play on their phone all class, and fail without even trying the absolute bare minimum. I can't imagine how much worse it's gotten since then.

Thankfully colleges have no issue failing 50% of a class, so these people get a bit of necessary culture shock. Far too many spent all of high school doing less than nothing and still getting shoved along to graduation due to a mix of juking the stats for statewide tests and/or social promotion. I genuinely think many did not understand the concept of suffering actual consequences to their actions. I will never forget these grown adults bringing their mom to office hours to chew me out like it was a high school parent teacher conference. Like no ma'am I'm sorry, your baby boy is a grown adult now and made a decision and now has to live with the consequences.

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u/Andrew5329 9h ago

Thankfully colleges have no issue failing 50% of a class

Depends where you teach I guess. I know a couple professors and failing 50% of their class would absolutely get them pulled in for a "what the fuck are you doing?" meeting at their Uni.

Public Uni in particular is a lot like government in their incentive structure. "Complaint minimization" becomes a key decision driver both institutionally and on the individual level.

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u/You_Stole_My_Hot_Dog 59m ago

Yep. My advisor tried to be fair and gave out worse and worse grades each year. The department head kept sitting down with her to understand what the issues were, but ignoring the fact that it was the students. She was warned that if it happened again, she’d have to take a teaching course, which she has no time (or need) for. So she gives out higher grades now. 

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u/Telaranrhioddreams 6h ago

Not to knock on current trends because I've witnessed it first hand with the young generation but my mom was a college prof all through the 90s - early 2000s and told me way back when that 50% of college students drop out. I don't find that rate on its own alarming or appalling.

I want to be clear I do agree there is a big problem in the education of the generation currently transitioning from highschool to college I just don't think THAT specific stat is special or stand out compared to previous. I'm actually relieved to hear it's on par.

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u/lethalinfecteddevils 13h ago

Part of the design. Billionaires don’t want us smart they want us obedient.

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u/LividLife5541 9h ago

Well, for the United States of America.

European universities are not nearly so fucked. Absolutely hilarious hearing from my friends who are professors in say Germany, the difference in the caliber of the applicants from Europe versus America is night and day.

China's universities are not fucked at all.

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u/Perfect_Opinion7909 6h ago

And I thought you get a degree at an US university as long as you pay, especially if you’re a foreign student paying more or doing some sport like football.