You are presented with a problem. You have bought water conditioner for your aquarium, and the instructions say you should use one capful for each 5g of water. The containers you use to age your water hold 12 pints each. What do you do?

Apart from the fact that these are US measures, this could easily be a problem I was given in math class…when I was learning multiplication and division…in Grade Four. Nonetheless, I was asked this question by an adult who apparently could not figure out that there are 40 pints in 5g, and if you divide 40 by 12, you get 3.333 (repeating, haven’t installed a font with a vinculum). If the recommended amount of water conditioner treats three times the amount of water you have, then you use about 1/3 of the recommended amount. Not rocket science.

Oh! Oh! I know why she didn’t know! The classic, “…but I don’t get math. I’m an arts student.” Since when “arts student” came to mean, “don’t have to understand elementary-level math”, I do not know. Are these the same people who work as cashiers and don’t know how to make change if you fuck ’em up by giving them one bill, then changing your mind after they’ve entered the dollar amount and the display shows change due?