Woman Helps Cashier in Panic with Impromptu Math Lesson on Handling Cash

A popular bartender who rose to fame on TikTok recently shared a short math lesson after a surprising encounter with a young cashier who struggled with a basic money exchange.

Michelle Raleigh, known as @michellebellexo to her 7.1 million TikTok followers, recounted how an attempt to help a cashier at her local supermarket resulted in utter confusion.

“My total was $15.06,” she said. “I gave the guy a $20 bill. He entered it into the register, and the drawer opened.”

However, Michelle realized she would receive an inconvenient amount of change and decided to simplify it for herself. “I didn’t want all that change and four one-dollar bills,” she explained. “So I grabbed six cents from my wallet and handed it to him, hoping to get a five-dollar bill back.”

The young cashier was visibly panicked. Ultimately, Michelle accepted the original change and then added her six cents, requesting to exchange the smaller bills for a five-dollar note.

“He was so confused. He had to count out the money to make sure it was $5,” she said, questioning, “What are they teaching our kids in schools?”

This experience inspired Michelle to offer a brief counting lesson to her followers. She captioned her video, “How to count back change without having to add or subtract any numbers.”

@michellebellexo

How to count back change without having to add or subtract any numbers🥰 #cashtransaction #countbackchange #server #bartender #tippedemployees #mathishard

Despite Michelle’s intent to be helpful, several viewers expressed their confusion in the comments. One user wrote, “I’m panicking just with this explanation?!” Another pointed out, “They’re trained not to do that because of quick-change artists. If you don’t hand it all at once it’s safer than losing your job.”

Some commenters related to the cashier’s plight, with one noting, “I would too, because I’m bad at math under pressure, especially when I feel like I’m being judged…”

A cashier shared their perspective: “We panic because we don’t like being ambushed by more money when we’re already mentally calculating. It screws us up, stresses us out. Plus, we gotta make sure our drawer is correct.”

Source: TikTok