(The bell rings on Mr. Parker's 9th grade math class at Southside High School. As the students are leaving the room, he calls out to one of them in particular...)
Hey Chris!
Yeah Mr. Parker?
Hold up , let me holler at you for a minute.
Okay…(waiting till all the other students left the room) What’s up?
You got a C on your test yesterday.
Yeah…(shrugging his shoulders) I know.
You’re smarter than this man, you don’t have to live like a slave.
I ain’t no slave!!
You’re not huh?
Naw!!
What kind of shoes are those that you have on?
These the new Gordan’s (smiling proudly)
The ones that come in their own little suitcase?
Yeah!!! (smiling)
Dang…don’t those cost like, $200?
223.45 with tax!
Oh..so you KNOW exactly how much they cost?
Yeah..I had to pay for them.
YOU had to pay for them??
Yeah…my momma made me buy them with my own money.
Do you work?
No.
Well…how do you get your OWN money?
My momma gives me an allowance.
Where does your mother work?
She’s a school teacher, just like you.
Chris…do you know how much I make a year?
I dunno..(shrugging his shoulders)
Let me show you something (getting up to write on the chalkboard) this school district pays me $39,400/year..do you know how much that is a month?
No.
Do you know how to find out how much it is a month?
No.
How many months are in a year?
12.
Okay, so if we have 39,400 per year, how much is that per month?
Uh…39,400 divided by 12?
Right and if we put that in the calculator. hold on, do you know how to do that by hand?
Do what?
Long division, 39400 divided12?
Uh..yeah.
Okay, get up there and let me see. I know it’s a lot quicker and easier to use a calculator, but to really be good at math, you need to be able to do that problem by hand.
What did you get?
3,283 remainder 4
What is that in decimal?
In decimal?
Yeah..you’ve got to USE that number with other numbers, so you’ve got to convert it from having a remainder 4, to what that would be in decimal, 3,283 point (something).
Oh, uhh 3283.4??
No..the 4 is just a portion of the divisor 12, so 4/12 reduces to 1/3 which in decimal is the repeating .33333. So the decimal answer is 3,283.33.
Oh..okay.
So that’s how much I make a month, $3,283.33…we get paid twice a month, on the first and fifteenth..so how much is that per check?
Uh..3283.33 divided by 2?
Right..which equals, I won’t make you do it longhand this time, here use this calculator.
1641.67
Okay..now take out 35% for federal taxes…
Uh..okay..I multiply 1641.67 x .35 and then subtract that answer from 1641.67?
Yeah, you can do it like that..or you could just multiply 1641.67 x .65, it’s the same thing.
Yeah..I never thought of it like that.
You can do the same thing when you see sales items in stores…25% off, just take the price and multiply by?
.75?
Right, .75
So how much is that after taxes?
$1067.09
Okay..and then take out, FICA and health insurance and contribution to my retirement program..which all comes to about $400 per month or $200 per pay period. So that leaves what for each check?
1067.09-200 = $867.09
Okay..so that’s what I take home every two weeks.
That’s a LOT of money!!!
Is it? Keep in mind that I still have to LIVE…house note, light bill, gas bill, telephone, cable, car note, insurance, groceries, gas for the car, etc. So let’s just be optimistic and say all of that comes to $1400/month. How much money do I have left?
Let’s see…$1400/month in bills is $700 every two weeks 867.09-700 = $167.09
Which wouldn’t even pay for a pair of the new Gordan’s huh?
Naw..it wouldn’t.
The point I’m trying to make is that your mother works hard..and she might even make more money than I do, but she GIVES you all these nice things and you’re just not showing any appreciation.
What do you mean? I EARN my allowance by cutting the grass and washing the car and stuff!!
Oh yeah? You EARN it huh? You really think your mother OWES you that money for doing what you do around the house and in the yard?
Yeah.
Well, that’s where you’re wrong, the only thing your parents owe you is a place to sleep and a meal. They’re not obligated to buy you Gordan’s, or Bolo’s or video games. She does that for you out of love for you, not because she HAS to. And here you are not doing ANYthing in school.
I’m doing okay in your class, I got a B.
Yeah, but you are good enough and smart enough that if you would really apply yourself, you could have gotten an A.
I’m doing alright, I’m go graduate.
Yeah, you’re going to get your diploma, but your work ethic is going to come back to haunt you. You should be trying to maximize your abilities and talents, instead of loafing and just ‘getting by’. Especially with the way you like to dress, your mother isn’t going to always be there to buy all these things for you. Eventually you’re going to have to go out there and hustle up on that money yourself.
Oh, I’m go have a job, cuz I GOT to have me a nice ride.
Well, by APPLYING yourself in your school work as hard as you can, you’ll already be a step ahead of the game. I just hope you don’t turn into one of those people spending all of their money on these material things like cars and clothes and jewelry. Just getting by, living check to check because you spend ALL of your disposable income as soon as you get it.
What’s disposable income?
That’s what’s left from your check after you pay all of your bills.
Oh…that $167 every 2 weeks number?
Yep.
Well, that would be cool, I could buy some new shoes and outfit every month and still have money left over.
Yeah..for awhile, but life has a way of throwing curveballs at you…house needs repair, car breaks down, you might be in an accident where you can’t work, who knows?
Ah Mr. Parker…that’s talking like my grandma..she never wants to spend anything, just save, save, save. You can’t take it with you when you die, might as well spend it, right?
You definitely can’t take it with you, but you can start making decisions now that lessen your burden as you get older. Just because you HAVE money, doesn’t mean you have to spend it. Its always good to INVEST your money in things that will turn a profit for you later. If you get caught up into just getting by from check to check, that’s just like being a slave.
I ain’t go be nobody’s slave!
You are if you succumb to that master of ‘status’. Because it will have you working your whole life for OTHER people, like the mortgage company, or the car financer, or credit cards and stuff like that. You need to really look at what it means to be free..and figure out if you’re ready to make that sacrifice of hard work and diligence for your freedom, or if you’re just content to ‘get by’ and be a slave. I would hate to see a young brother with so much promise and potential let it go to waste. You need to buckle up podna. This world is not going to GIVE you anything, you gotta go get it for yourself. Do you understand what I’m telling you?
I think so.
Math is a very fundamental subject that builds on itself. You start off with counting, addition, subtraction, then you learn multiplication and division, fractions, decimals all that stuff keeps building up to get you ready for algebra, geometry, algebra II, trigonometry, elementary analysis, calculus..you can’t afford to miss a step, because each step builds off the one before. You understand?
Yes Mr. Parker..I understand. I guess I just never had a good teacher like you before to explain things to me to make it easy to understand.
Well, I’m glad you feel that way. But if you keep on coming in with these C’s on my tests, you’re going to make me feel like I’m not doing my job…and you KNOW I can’t have that!! (smiling)
Alright..I’ll do better.
Hmph, I hear what you SAY, we’re going to see what you DO.
