Mmmmm....Burrito

Breakfast Math: 82 is greater than 50

Breakfast or not, that's pretty basic stuff.  Also, does math change after lunch?  I would have thought it would be a little more constant. 

Today's story does not necessarily deal with math as a function of breakfast so much as performing math while buying breakfast.  

STORY TIME!!!

So, not long ago, I was in line at the cafeteria to buy my breakfast.  In this case, it was two pieces of toast and a bottle of iced tea.  This comes to 2 dollars and some change...a fact that is in no way germane to the story.  The guy in front of me was buying something else for breakfast.  He had a breakfast burrito and maybe some other stuff.  His total was $5.82.  

The guy was clearly expecting his breakfast to cost less than this, since he had a 5 dollar bill out in order to complete his side of the transaction.  Also, he questioned the total at first, commenting that apparently, the price of the "breakfast special"changes from day to day, a fact that he was not initially prepared for.  Then, things got weird. 

The guy says, "Okay, I have the change," and starts digging around in his pocket for the remainder of the cost, as you would expect.  This was not like the case at the gas station not long ago, where a guy is fishing around all of his pockets, futilely trying to find the extra 30 cents to pay for his stuff before I offered him a dollar just to move the line along.  The guy clearly had the extra money, it just wasn't in his hand at that very moment.  He proceeds to take out two quarters and places them down on the counter, then stares at the cashier.  

The two of them just looked at each other for a full three awkward seconds, the customer waiting for the cashier to take his money, and the cashier waiting for a sum of money equal to or greater than the payment due.  Oh, and there I am, looking at both of them wondering who was going to realize what was happening first, while my toast was getting cold.  

Eventually, the guy realized that 82 cents was greater than the 50 cents he had offered and procured another dollar.  Everybody enjoyed their breakfast.  I mean...I'm guessing.  I have no idea what the cashier ate.