NUMB3RS
One of my coworkers just asked me this question.
She diligently wrote out: .4 mg
And asked "What does this mean?"
I responded: "Four-tenths of a milligram."
She looks perplexed.
I try again: "Let's see, If you have a milligram and break it into 10 pieces, it would be 4 of those pieces. Four-tenths."
She then writes down this: 400 mg
And proceeds to ask: "Which is bigger? 400mg or .4 mg?
Ok, I didn't laugh at her but politely answered her question that 400 mg is much more than four-tenths of milligram. Like 1000 times more.
I think she's on the Weight Watchers diet so she's counting her points and her calories because last week she ask me to explain the calories on the nutrition section of the bag of chips she was eating. The conversation went something like this:
Coworker: "What does this mean? (pointing to the bag of chips nutrition label)
Me: It means that there are 180 calories in one serving of chips.
Coworker: What does one serving mean?
So I explain to her that the number of servings is listed on the package too and if you mulitply the number of servings by the number of calories you would then know how many calories you would be eating- IF you ate the whole bag of chips.
She looks a little confused, but then slowly the lightbulb buzzes above her head.
Coworker: You mean there are that many calories in this little bag of chips?!?
Who knew chips were fattening?
I'm so glad my mathematical abilities are still being challenged. All those years I always sat behind Mike Sullivan in math class have finally paid off. We were always seated alphabetically and my last name being SW.............. always put me behind him in class. Thank god he was very smart and very kind and very patient, albeit kind of nerdy.
I must admit, I feel very sad and embarrassed about the incident in 7th grade when Philip Smith told Mike that I liked him and asked him if he would "go" with me. Poor, poor Mike's response was "Sure." I never was very good at letting guys down easy, so I usually did the most logical thing and hid from them. Like when Chris Ceclione asked me to go with him at the basketball gym and I hid in the girls locker room the whole day just to avoid saying: "No, I will not go with you-you're much too short for me." I have HIGH standards afterall. I eventually let Mike down and explained that it was all just some stupid joke and could we just be friends. Despite this, he never did hold it against me because in 11th grade Analytical Geometry he offered all of his help to get me through that class.
Maybe my coworker didn't have a math geek (aside-I lovingly use that term) to help her in high school math, so she is forever doomed to be confused by milligram, calorie, and serving size measurements.
Let it be known to all the math geeks out there, there probably is some girl out there who truly appreciates you. And even though she would never go with you back then, she just might consider it now- especially if your finances have mathematically increased AND if she weren't already married.
She diligently wrote out: .4 mg
And asked "What does this mean?"
I responded: "Four-tenths of a milligram."
She looks perplexed.
I try again: "Let's see, If you have a milligram and break it into 10 pieces, it would be 4 of those pieces. Four-tenths."
She then writes down this: 400 mg
And proceeds to ask: "Which is bigger? 400mg or .4 mg?
Ok, I didn't laugh at her but politely answered her question that 400 mg is much more than four-tenths of milligram. Like 1000 times more.
I think she's on the Weight Watchers diet so she's counting her points and her calories because last week she ask me to explain the calories on the nutrition section of the bag of chips she was eating. The conversation went something like this:
Coworker: "What does this mean? (pointing to the bag of chips nutrition label)
Me: It means that there are 180 calories in one serving of chips.
Coworker: What does one serving mean?
So I explain to her that the number of servings is listed on the package too and if you mulitply the number of servings by the number of calories you would then know how many calories you would be eating- IF you ate the whole bag of chips.
She looks a little confused, but then slowly the lightbulb buzzes above her head.
Coworker: You mean there are that many calories in this little bag of chips?!?
Who knew chips were fattening?
I'm so glad my mathematical abilities are still being challenged. All those years I always sat behind Mike Sullivan in math class have finally paid off. We were always seated alphabetically and my last name being SW.............. always put me behind him in class. Thank god he was very smart and very kind and very patient, albeit kind of nerdy.
I must admit, I feel very sad and embarrassed about the incident in 7th grade when Philip Smith told Mike that I liked him and asked him if he would "go" with me. Poor, poor Mike's response was "Sure." I never was very good at letting guys down easy, so I usually did the most logical thing and hid from them. Like when Chris Ceclione asked me to go with him at the basketball gym and I hid in the girls locker room the whole day just to avoid saying: "No, I will not go with you-you're much too short for me." I have HIGH standards afterall. I eventually let Mike down and explained that it was all just some stupid joke and could we just be friends. Despite this, he never did hold it against me because in 11th grade Analytical Geometry he offered all of his help to get me through that class.
Maybe my coworker didn't have a math geek (aside-I lovingly use that term) to help her in high school math, so she is forever doomed to be confused by milligram, calorie, and serving size measurements.
Let it be known to all the math geeks out there, there probably is some girl out there who truly appreciates you. And even though she would never go with you back then, she just might consider it now- especially if your finances have mathematically increased AND if she weren't already married.
posted by amyd | 4:40 PM
2 Comments:
Sigh. My science geek was also my secret admirer and he sent me candy grams and had people pass me notes for a whole month before he revealed himself. And I ignored him and blew him off because he wasn't "cool." And if you look at his year book picture he is actually a hottie. Brian Cale. He's a doctor now. Karma bites me in the ass.
where were our priorities back then?
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