Real-Life Math
Customs and border protection officers are always on the guard
for people who are trying to buck the rules.
It's your first day
on the job at the border. One of your first orders of business is to assist
one of your superiors in determining the taxes a small elderly man owes as
he attempts to make a crossing.
"Oh, fiddlesticks!" he exclaims, as he furls his wrinkled
brow. "I've been here long enough that I should be able to take back
anything I want without you guys trying to beat me down for money!"
Here's
what he is attempting to bring over the border:
39
- 12-ounce cans of beer
6 - 12-ounce cans of ale
Under
law, visitors meeting the minimum age requirement may bring the following
into the country duty-free:
40 ounces of liquor or wine;
or
24 x 12-ounce cans or bottles of beer or ale
Now
comes the math. For each bottle our friend is over the limit (24 cans), you
will charge him 94 cents.
"OK, math isn't the end-all in my field,"
says customs official John Newell. "I don't go out of my way to consider
math on a daily basis. I do, however, need math to get through some of the
rules and regulations that I observe.
"There is obviously a limit as
to what a person may bring over borders and we're sometimes called upon
to regulate this. If it involves quantities, there is indeed math involved,
however basic."