I am glad people are choosing to work. It would be even better if more people stepped up to fill the many jobs being advertised all over town.

But while I am happy to see people working some less than exciting jobs is it too much to ask for them to do their jobs with some level of competence?

A few weeks ago, I decided to clean out some of the change in my cup holder in my car. I partially paid for an item at a fast-food restaurant with 12 quarters. The person who took my money looked as if I had handed her a sheet of Latin poetry to translate. After staring at the change for a couple of seconds she asked me if I had given her four dollars. Finally, one of her co-workers explained 12 quarters equal three dollars.

In another incident my mother insisted on shopping on her own at a local store. I waited for her for what seemed like hours. When I went inside to see what was wrong a clerk at the  checkout was going through all of the bags my mother had paid for. She was rechecking the price of each item on the register tape. Finally, the clerk that checked her items realized she had given my mother back the same amount she had just spent instead of the proper amount of change which was double her purchase amount.

Last week the same thing happened to me at another business when the clerk returned the amount I had paid instead of the amount in change I should have received.

I remember in my ancient times in grammar school when we were taught to properly make change. Guess those lessons are too practical in today’s curriculums. Maybe a cashless society might not be a bad thing after all.

But this goes beyond clerks and fast-food workers.

Monday morning my mother talked on the phone with the representative of a large national company. The person on the other line told her, rather rudely, there was no record of her in their system.

I made another call to the company and a different person pulled up her records and quickly solved her problem. How wonderful it was to find someone who was competent in the work they were being paid to do.

I have heard many employers say they have troubles because a person will work for a day or two and then never show up again. When did pride in doing a solid day’s work disappear?

Don’t get me wrong. I am not painting all workers with a broad  brush. Most people are doing their best to properly perform in their jobs. They even do it with a smile.

I am sure this column isn’t perfect. We all make mistakes no matter what our lines of work. That is to be expected. But I don’t think a little bit of competency is too much to ask.