I have a learning disability called dyscalculia; it’s like dyslexia for math. My mother, for reasons I will never know, decided I didn’t have it when I was a kid, so I never got support or intervention, but now that I have my own free time, I’m trying to relearn math.
This has led to some interesting moments of me saying, “I’m very sorry, I don’t understand. Can you explain again?” to various bank tellers, cashiers, and other people, who are usually perfectly nice about it.
However, today, I got to do something new.
I went out to try an old favorite hole-in-the-wall sushi place. Apparently, someone had come in and decided that instead of serving flavorful sushi, “Wrap half a pound of fish in rice and seaweed and dribble soy sauce on it” was a substitute. (Or possibly “put an entire jalapeño in the sauce,” judging by one appetizer.) I couldn’t really stomach eating half a raw salmon at a time, so I politely asked for the bill to get the h*** out of there.
Out of habit, since I’m relearning math, I estimated the rough total of the bill.
It matched what was on the paper.
I’m disappointed to lose a good sushi joint, but I can now say that I actually can estimate a calculation and be in the general ballpark, instead of missing ten dollars here or there. It’s a victory I’m proud of.
( I wonder if my Wife had this problem. She always had me figure grocery totals and was amazed that I could do it in my head with an error of a dollar or two. And she couldn’t do fractions to save her life.)
doctorwho29 10 days ago
Interesting description. And I just love this friendship! The more Miles understands, the more he praises Kevin
Yakety Sax 10 days ago
It’s All Starting To Add Up To A Win
I have a learning disability called dyscalculia; it’s like dyslexia for math. My mother, for reasons I will never know, decided I didn’t have it when I was a kid, so I never got support or intervention, but now that I have my own free time, I’m trying to relearn math.
This has led to some interesting moments of me saying, “I’m very sorry, I don’t understand. Can you explain again?” to various bank tellers, cashiers, and other people, who are usually perfectly nice about it.
However, today, I got to do something new.
I went out to try an old favorite hole-in-the-wall sushi place. Apparently, someone had come in and decided that instead of serving flavorful sushi, “Wrap half a pound of fish in rice and seaweed and dribble soy sauce on it” was a substitute. (Or possibly “put an entire jalapeño in the sauce,” judging by one appetizer.) I couldn’t really stomach eating half a raw salmon at a time, so I politely asked for the bill to get the h*** out of there.
Out of habit, since I’m relearning math, I estimated the rough total of the bill.
It matched what was on the paper.
I’m disappointed to lose a good sushi joint, but I can now say that I actually can estimate a calculation and be in the general ballpark, instead of missing ten dollars here or there. It’s a victory I’m proud of.
( I wonder if my Wife had this problem. She always had me figure grocery totals and was amazed that I could do it in my head with an error of a dollar or two. And she couldn’t do fractions to save her life.)
GoldLions Premium Member 10 days ago
Kevin just described my hearing issues perfectly so I’m wondering if there can be an audio form of dyslexia?
Ellis97 10 days ago
Boy, that’s deep.
diskus Premium Member 9 days ago
You might be surprised to learn how many people you know have been through Kevin’s experience
baskate_2000 9 days ago
Don’t be snarky Kev — thank him for the compliment!
Ida No 9 days ago
Miles: “I said it’s amazing. Not, ’*you’re* amazing’.”
6turtle9 9 days ago
The more you know…