Today's Kids

Had to have some carbs, yesteday, road trip, low blood sugar, all I could find was a interstate McD's, and only had $4. That's ALL I could dredge up, no change. Went in, scanned the menu, told the girl and showed her, I had EXACTLY 4 one-dollar bills. That's ALL I had. I said a egg mcMuffin looked gogd, would $$ cover it? She looked, said yes, rang it up, and said "That'll be $4.04." Honestly. [All she got was 4 dollar bills.]

She could have taken a bite out of it and then gave it to you, lol. $4 sounds high for 1 egg mcmuffin btw.

Makes one wonder if the illegal immigrant labor pool has no problem finding work simply because not only do they know how to work and get stuff done, but can do simple math, and after selling a couple egg-a-muffins could tell you exactly what it would be before the cash register displayed a number.

There is also the matter that pennies are worth so little today that most places have a penny bowl to make up any shortage as it's easier to put a quarter's worth of pennies out to make sure the till balances at the end of the day than have a line of customers waiting for you to dig 4 pennies out of your pocket, or even worse, your truck.

Now wait a minute. Lets look at this from both sides.

You had $4.
You could see the price of the item on the menu.
I'm guessing you know the tax base of your area.
But you could not figure out on your own if your $4 would cover the entire bill.

And then you point out when the KID could not figure the tax in her head.

My mom had a saying for instances like this.
"Boy is that the pot calling the kettle black"

i gotta side with john on this one,...

FNH44 did you ever think she might have thrown the 4 cents in the cash drawer for you. Her thoughts as you drove away may have been, I better knuckle down in school so I don't end up like that guy? Don't be too hard on her.

I can understand this situation completely, as my dad also is diabetic and found himself in this type of situation too. I understand your frustration. For those saying you should have figured it out on your own, I don't think they are familiar with low blood sugar, because I know my dad couldn't have figured out tax rates and such in his mind at that point. I was truly hoping to see an ending where the young person helped you with your needs and wished you a good day. I know several people have helped my dad in similar situations over the past 50 years, I'm sorry your moment wasn't quite like his good fortune. I truly sympathize with diabetics in a low blood sugar condition, as I know with my dad in this condition, he knows enough to know what he needs, but his mind may be processing to slow to actually accomplish it on his own. I'm just glad that you are ok. I know just how dangerous low blood sugar for diabetics can be. It is a medical emergency.

So apparently, you got your food ("All she got was $4"), so it wasn't a completely unhappy ending.

And chalk up another reason to carry a credit card, in addition to buying plane tickets and buying stuff on line.

So you left home with no food, a medical condition, and $4. A stranger gave you food for less than its price, and you're dogging her because you think that means she can't do math in her head, even though SHE GAVE YOU FOOD, which you desperately needed. Maybe she meant that $4 would cover it regardless, because she could see your need, and she has to say what the ring-up is as part of her training?

Gotta defend FBH a little bit here. If his blood sugar was low,it was hard to think. Been there.

One thought I would add, and other posters are correct in their thoughts of being prepared, is to have a "health stash" in your wallet. I know my dad has also found himself away from home at meal time. What he does is to keep a $20 in a place in his wallet other than where his spending cash is. That way if his blood sugar needs attention, he has that extra to take care of a snack, or even a full meal if necessary.

Well around here you would get a Egg McMuffin MEAL for $3.99 plus tax. The best thing would have been a orange juice. A large is $2.09 around here and would have raised your sugar faster. Another thing is hash browns they are a dollar on the value meal list.

I agree with those that say your criticizing the young lady behind the counter for YOUR inability to plan for your medical condition.

My wife NEVER leaves the house without something that would raise her blood sugar if it bottoms out after she takes her insulin. She usually has a few energy bars in her purse and the glove box of her car.

I am assuming you just did not have any more cash with you not that your down to your last $4. My middle son is like that. He pays for just about everything with his debt/credit cards. I have tried to tell him that he is playing with fire but he does not listen. His wife has to bail him out at least once each month when they go some where to eat or some thing. Many smaller restaurants and other businesses DO NOT take credit/debt cards the cost per trans action is too high for low volume retailers. I NEVER leave the house with out at least $20-40 cash in my pocket. The longer the trip the more I take too.

Your post brings to mind a sign that used to hang in a machine shop I go to. " Your inability to plan does not make your emergency MY emergency"

IF she had been following the "RULES" she would not have let your take the food without paying for it completely. The price was $4.04 not $4. I am willing to bet that she had to balance her cash box at the end of her shift. She would have had to take the $.04 out of her pocket. So she paid for part of your food, I know it was a LITTLE bit but still some of it.

The only thing I can think of her not knowing is what menu items would raise your sugar for lower prices. IF she has never been around anyone that has blood sugar problems she easily could not know anything about it. I would not have had much knowledge on the subject before my wife's diabetes show up.

I'm not following you here. You had $4, asked her if that would cover it, she looked at the till, it said $4.04, she said yes because she's a nice person. It is odd though that she asked for $4.04, but as another said, it may be a matter of policy/training. If this is a problem for you, you should carry plastic or have more than $4 on your person. It's like a person with asthama leaving home without an inhaler.

$4.04 sounds really expensive for an egg McMuffin. The same thing here would be 3.66 with tax, and that's in Canada. Has little to do with what you're talking about, just odd that it's so expensive.

Here they are 2 for 3.50

If you are prone to low blood sugar you carry the appropriate snacks with you. My Did did it - never had to depend on anyone else "understanding."

You should have checked the $$ menue,you might have been able to get 4 cheese burgers for you 4 bucks then you might have been full.

Maybe she had a penny kitty in frt of her to where she took the 4 cents. There are several of those kittys in several places. Like paying forward.

Well, I'm guessing that the egg mcmuffin's price was posted for you as well as her. In Indiana, tax is .04 per $1.00. If something costs a $1.00 here, costs $1.04 including tax. Even if she didn't calculate the tax in her head as she could have, she let the register automatically do it for her, couldn't you have calculated it in yourself ahead of time?

In your medical condition, you might want to make it a habit of carrying an emergency snack in your glove compartment for such emergencies, at a much cheaper price, so carry two or three instead.

Good luck.

Mark

When your blood sugar gets too low, does it affect a person's driving?

Sounds like the person working the counter did a nice thing by figuring out a way to cover the money that you owed.

Should have asked for it to go. No tax on takeout in Ohio, probably other states, too.

So whats todays kids have to do with poor planning in your case?

(quoted from post at 10:53:04 01/10/16) Gotta defend FBH a little bit here. If his blood sugar was low,it was hard to think. Been there.

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So it is ok to bash the kid later when you are thinking straight?
Just maybe she saved your life so you could get back in your car and drive while you were thinking right.

OP Said it was a roadtrip so he likely did not know the tax amount or rules (some states don't tax food). I wish we would go with the European model with this. Every store I went to in Europe the price was, as marked; all taxes and duties included. So if it was marked 4 euros that was all you paid. They also didn't have any of the .99, .98 cent crap either.

I see a number of possibilities.

We don't know your age or your home state. We also don't know which state you were in so it is hard to figure.
Some off ramp McDonalds don't give tourists a break. So even if items are on special it may have been a non participating one.
If you are over 50, 55, or 60 you might have been given a senior citizens discount -or not.