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What are the odds of this happening?....
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Was in small supemarket earlier, at the till, and a man was next to me at the adjacent till. We both had baskets of totally different random items. Both cashiers finished scanning at exactly the same time. Both said "£7.89 please", at EXACTLY the same time. They turned and looked at each other, looked at each others till and said no way did that just happen. Exactly the same amount at exactly the same time, right next to each other.
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Spooky haha :)
When I worked on a supermarket deli counter a customer came up and asked for 89p worth of one of the speciality cheeses with a really smug look on his face. I bit my tongue and cut the cheese and got it bang on - 89p. The look on his face was priceless. I carried on as normal like I wasn't even surprised but it was a very satisfying flukey moment :)
When I worked on a supermarket deli counter a customer came up and asked for 89p worth of one of the speciality cheeses with a really smug look on his face. I bit my tongue and cut the cheese and got it bang on - 89p. The look on his face was priceless. I carried on as normal like I wasn't even surprised but it was a very satisfying flukey moment :)
It probably happens several times a week in most large supermarkets, and a little less often in small supermarkets which have fewer customers. In a small supermarket though bill sizes tend to be smaller- most people probably spend between £5 and £10. There are only 500 different prices in that range so whatever amount you spend there is roughly a 1 in 500 chance that another customer next to you will have the same bill. It may not happen to you but it could happen to someone during the course of a week.
Okay let me see...
Its the odds of the same total (T) x odds of simultaenious expression of total(S)
For T ; totals range from say 10p to say £200 so approx 20,000 to 1
For S ; cashiers say totals maybe 60 times an hour ,it takes say 3sec ,so chance is 3/60 x 3/60 or 400 to 1
The chance of your co-incidence is 400 x 20 000 or 8 million to 1
In my humble opinion
Its the odds of the same total (T) x odds of simultaenious expression of total(S)
For T ; totals range from say 10p to say £200 so approx 20,000 to 1
For S ; cashiers say totals maybe 60 times an hour ,it takes say 3sec ,so chance is 3/60 x 3/60 or 400 to 1
The chance of your co-incidence is 400 x 20 000 or 8 million to 1
In my humble opinion
I disagree bigbadmarty on two counts. First, the amounts spent in a small supermarket will not be distributed evenly between 10p and £200- I would guess £80% will be in the range £3-£25.
Secondly, I don't think you should multiply the two 3/60 figures. Smowball paid for the items when she did- all that matters is the single probability the adjacent cashier said her amount at the same time.
Secondly, I don't think you should multiply the two 3/60 figures. Smowball paid for the items when she did- all that matters is the single probability the adjacent cashier said her amount at the same time.
Yes factor30 on reflection you make a good case .
so its 3/60 or 20 to 1 times ....
well 80% is 300>2500 or 2200
so 100% is 2200 x (100/80) or 2750 to 1 times 20 to 1 is 55 000 to 1
but not all the increments will be actual totals on the till - what % ? 10 ?
then its 5 500 to 1 about the same as 4 no.s on the lottery ?
ok not quite the jackpot I first contrived but heigh-ho :)
so its 3/60 or 20 to 1 times ....
well 80% is 300>2500 or 2200
so 100% is 2200 x (100/80) or 2750 to 1 times 20 to 1 is 55 000 to 1
but not all the increments will be actual totals on the till - what % ? 10 ?
then its 5 500 to 1 about the same as 4 no.s on the lottery ?
ok not quite the jackpot I first contrived but heigh-ho :)
Odd things like this happen to us all the time.
Over the course of a week several unusual things may happen to us.
When I stopped at the traffic lights today I stopped behind someone with the same car make, model and colour as mine. With all the colours and models available what were the chances of that. But I stop at lights so often it's bound to happen from time to time. If that hadn't happened some other unlikely event may have happened- eg I drove past a pastie shop just as pasties were discussed on the radio
Over the course of a week several unusual things may happen to us.
When I stopped at the traffic lights today I stopped behind someone with the same car make, model and colour as mine. With all the colours and models available what were the chances of that. But I stop at lights so often it's bound to happen from time to time. If that hadn't happened some other unlikely event may have happened- eg I drove past a pastie shop just as pasties were discussed on the radio
