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Knoxvillian Jack Bradshaw got more to chew on than a free meal.
This occurred recently when Bradshaw went to a local fast-food joint to redeem a coupon. It was good for a hot dog and tater tots, regularly priced at $2.99 plus tax.
When his order arrived, however, he noticed the total came to only $2.72.
As Bradshaw handed his coupon to the server, he asked why the cost was supposed to be $2.99, yet the bill was 27 cents less.
“She looked puzzled for a moment, then said, ‘Oh, it’s because of the sales tax.’”
Bradshaw kept pondering the matter as he drove off.
“Maybe we should start a campaign to invite people to Tennessee,” he told me. “This is the only state where they don’t add sales tax to your total, they subtract it. Brilliant!”
Whether that’s a good strategy for attracting visitors is debatable. But it does help explain why only 38 percent of Tennessee elementary school students are considered proficient in math.
That’s what the Tennessee Department of Education discovered when compiling stats to see how our third-to-eighth-grade kids compared with nationwide standards. Unfortunately, the math numbers didn’t add up very well.
(Oops, hold on a second. It is add or subtract? Or multiply/divide? Those number thingies always give me a fit. I’ve always considered “higher math” to be anything beyond the realm of fingers and toes. What’s more, I’ve always — huh, beg pardon? Am I a native Tennessean? Why, yes. Why do you ask?)
Thirty-eight percent proficiency is nothing to brag about, of course. But at least I can sympathize with students who scratch holes in their heads during math exams.
Some of us simply aren’t hardwired for numbers. This is particularly true among journalists. We may be able to write circles around everyday Janes and Joes, but when it comes to ciphering? Not so much.
True story: Years ago, my office cubicle was near the business news desk. When a complex report came down the pike, involving all manner of fractions and percentages, the biz folks occasionally ran it by Venable for inspection.
Mary Ann Venable, that is.
My wife is a math whiz. She taught high school algebra before getting into computer software instruction. I’d call her, and she’d check the figures. If she gave her stamp of approval, we knew the story was good to go.
Which reminds me of something I heard a comedian say on TV the other night:
“There are three kinds of people in this world — those who are good at math and those who aren’t.”
Pfft! That’s supposed to be a joke? Where’s the punchline?
Sam Venable’s column appears Sunday and Tuesday. Contact him at sam.venable@outlook.com.