In an extended exchange with a 20-year-old, I was specific about how we make decisions. “Okay, Charlotte, you’re grocery shopping and you get to the mayonnaise section --6 feet high, 6 feet wide, and 2 feet deep.  You have to make a decision on which mayonnaise to buy. So which one do you buy?"

 

She said, “The cheapest one."

 

“And how do you decide which is the cheapest one?”  She replied, “The one with the lowest price."

 

I pressed on to ask, “Okay, and which one has the lowest price?”  She answered, “The smallest one."

 

This adult woman had earned her public school diploma, but no one ever told her how to use the unit-pricing system at the supermarket.  Every week she bought the smallest size mayonnaise because she believed she was saving money.

 

Charlotte had a high school diploma, but she was not prepared for adulthood.