We recently had a big family reunion, and as one of the organizers, I was on the contracts and helped pay for the fete. Then I got to collect money from the attendees. Now, it's time to settle up.
Have I ever mentioned that I'm not that great with numbers? Math does not come easily to me, I struggle with the most mundane figures.
I opened a spreadsheet. First, I made sure that only those folks that showed up were listed. Then I put in all the monies that I collected from them at the event. Then I divided up all the final costs and divvied it up among the attendees. Comparing the shortfall to each person who paid, I determined who to tap for more money.
Then I started taking out the money I owed from the amount to collect (by paying in advance for the whole gig, part of that payment is my money against my family's bill, right?) Next, I had to deduct the amount that my sister paid because we split the bill.
Then I looked at the stack of checks and cash and thought, "how do I back into the amount that I need to pay to her?" Since we split the charges, I figured we should split the amount collected too. But she had to pay in less than I did because her family is smaller. So the amount she paid to the resort (not her portion) was actually more than mine.
This whole exercise made my brain hurt. We scratched and figured, flipped pages, subtracted, added in, and came up with numbers. None of which was actually the amount I needed to give to her to settle up. You know how sometimes you're too close to a problem? You work too hard and make it too difficult?
Well, that's what I did. I had this stack of checks and cash. The checks were all made out to me and I kept trying to figure out how I was going to split it up with my DS. Finally, it occurred to me... cash the checks. Then split the cash 50/50.
Sometimes, the depth of my stupidity scares me.
--Sandee Wagner
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6 comments:
You're not stupid... just like you said, too close to the problem.
Craig doesn't like to store gas cans in the garage, but since we don't have anywhere else to put the gas, he fretted. Until he told me what he was fretting about, and I just said, "dump it in your car" and he felt like an idiot... putting the gas into one of our vehicles hadn't even occurred to him!
Eh, Sandee, mention numbers and half my brain automatically turns off. It has nothing to do with intelligence; it's just that my brain is wired differently.
All that matters is you got to the right answer eventually.
Emm,
You slay me... I wouldn't have thought of that either. Someone once told me that it was the gas fumes that were dangerous. So the gas cans that are FULL are safer than those that are half empty or empty. But we generally have bunches of gas cans in all stages of fullness hanging around the garages. spw
Marilyn,
I'm really glad to know that I'm not the only one who's not 'number smart'. I swear, I looked and looked and figured and ticked away at the numbers trying to make it work out. I still think I'm off, but my sis is okay with the split. That's as good as it's going to get. spw
Sandee,
I don't know how good you are with numbers, but you're great at confusing me.
My brain freezes up when it comes to complicated stuff like that. Today my dad was explaining something about investing and trading and selling short while we were on the phone together.
I kept saying, "uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh," but the inside of my head was like Homer Simpson's. That little bird just kept dipping his beak in the glass of water.
Susan,
HA!! You crack me up. I tell folks that those times become the "Charlie Brown's teacher moments". WahwahWAHwahwah... that's all I hear.
It really should not have been as confusing as it turned out being. We collected a certain amount, the bill was another amount, we should have been able to split the remainder up between the folks willing to kick in.... but NNNOOOOO, I had to make it hard. spw
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