McDonald’s Employee Works By A School—Now He Says He’s ‘Worried About The Future’

Knowing how to count money feels like a basic task that everyone should know how to do confidently. However, younger generations are struggling with this simple math. A McDonald’s manager fears the future after one high schooler tried paying with cash.

McDonald’s manager Jacob Smeltzer (@krazeyjakey) works at a McDonald’s location right by a high school. As the manager, Smeltzer frequently interacts with the students looking for a post-school meal.

In a TikTok with over 139,000 views, Smeltzer reveals a customer interaction he had with a high schooler.

“You wanna know why I’m really worried about the future?” Smeltzer begins. “This kid’s order, I think, was like $7 or $8. So I was like, ‘Yeah, here’s the total, blah, blah, blah,” Smeltzers says.

What the kid did next shocked Smeltzer.

“They give me $35 and asks if that’s enough,” he shares.

The McDonald’s manager says he reiterated that the meal only cost $7 or $8. “They looked at me confused. They’re like, ‘Well, is that enough?’” Smeltzer continues.

This interaction made Smeltzer question what is even being taught in math class nowadays.

“Bro, I don’t know what they’re like in school now, but they ain’t teaching them the same stuff I grew up on. Where’s the fundamentals of basic math?” Smeltzer wonders.

‘Kids Need To Play Monopoly More’

Viewers in the comments section speculated what is causing the lack of math literacy.

“I’ll tell you what the problem is *ignores class* *gets homework* *sends picture to ChatGPT* ChatGPT answers all of these questions for me,” one TikTok commenter wrote.

“Kids need to play monopoly more,” another added.

“Sounds like I would have been about 30 bucks richer,” one joked.

Others mentioned that teenagers struggle counting coins for change.

“They don’t know how to make change either,” one commented.

“My 17 year old didn’t know the different coins to give change,” another shared.

“Some teens in front of me at Starbucks asked each other how much dimes were worth when trying to pay cash because the reader was out of order,” a third said.

“I’m not even trying to be mean, but it’s like kids today are intentionally dumb. Not one of them knows how to count money anymore,” another wrote.

Why Are Kids Struggling With Counting Money?

The kids are struggling with both reading and math; test scores continue to decrease every year, per PBS. ABC News reported that reading and math scores are at a historic low.

Assumptions are made that the pandemic caused the decline, but, in reality, it started a decade ago.

Hearing stories of kids struggling to count change or not knowing how much cash to give the McDonald’s worker is simply concerning. It can partially be blamed on the school system, budget cuts, and a shortage of teachers.

However, the shift to finances going digital can’t be overlooked. Money is primarily handled digitally, so the exchange of physical currency is becoming obsolete. Many retailers refuse cash and only accept credit cards or Apple Pay.

Handing cash over during a store transaction was a common practice, and change would be returned if you gave more than the amount charged. This frequent exchange made it easier to understand the value of money.

What’s The Solution?

With most things being digital nowadays, there are fewer opportunities to practice quick mental math on the spot. Not too long ago, kids had things like piggy banks. They would collect and count coins in their piggy bank to see if they could buy something special.

With fewer opportunities in the real world to do this, a hypothetical store can be made to simulate a store transaction, We Are Teachers shares. This will teach kids to learn what each coin’s value means and if they have enough money to buy the item in a made-up store.

By doing this, the kids can practice counting and spending the money they have collected.

BroBible has contacted Smeltzer via TikTok direct message and commented on the post. This post will be updated if he replies back.