My favorite story is about a local shopkeeper's son, about 14-15 years old, who was working the register in his father's store. I bought something for $1.50, and gave him two $1 bills, and he punched $20.00 into the register and gave me $18.50 change. When I questioned him, he replied "The computer said."
I don't know if your story is a computer story or the failure of modern education to instill critical thinking and reasoning (or both). It is tantamount to the students who think 4.12 is bigger than 4.2 (12 is more than 2). And may be the reason McDonald's cash registers have pictures of the items on the keys, instead of numbers, and even uses pictures of two or three items rather than pushing the single item key two or three times.
