According to those who monitor such things, Americans are falling further and further behind in such subjects as math, although in other areas, including the ability to eat large quantities of food, our skill is unchanged and, indeed, may even be growing.
This lack of a grasp of everyday math concepts appears to be widespread. This observation comes from our recent time spent in airports, where one's ability to use math can come in handy -- for example, to discern whether line A is shorter than line B at security, and whether one can sprint over to line A before anyone else can get there first and deprive one of the advantage of getting in a shorter line.
The math challenge comes when attempting to comply with today's complex airline regulations. Most airlines, for example, limit the number of bags passengers are allowed to carry on the airplane. This limit, which is arrived at through complicated algorithms as well as numerous rounds of Rock, Scissors, Paper, is generally: 2.
This number often causes some confusion. So here, for readers' benefit, we offer a Q&A to help clarify what "two bags" means:
Q: I have three bags, but two are stacked. So that counts for --
A: Still three bags. Lose one.
Q: I travel with a lot of stuff, so two bags means, like, four, right?
A: Not unless you want us to count you as two people.
Q: I have my pet in a carrier. If I get two bags, and she gets two bags, then --
A: No.
Q: I have two smallish bags, so can I add a third smallish bag to equal the two allowed bags?
A: Two large/medium/small + one large/medium/small = THREE.
Q: So, I can have one personal item...that means, like, my car?
A: If your car can fold up and fit in the overhead bin, then yes. Last we checked, these hadn't been invented yet.
Q: If I drape my garment bag around my neck while boarding, I think that should count as clothing, not a bag.
A: As long as you wear this "clothing" for the duration of the flight, be our guest.
Q: Wait, I'm sure I can stuff my guitar case into my purse...just a minute...almost got it...
A: Doors are closing! Sorry.
We hope this sheds some light on this complicated math matter. We are sure that once Americans more clearly understand airport math, we will surge ahead in the international math polls! As long as we're allowed more than one pencil in the testing room.
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