The Kaprekar Routine

There is a story about a man named “Joe” whose wife sent him to the supermarket. Joe was never a very good listener – he tended to pick up on the major points of a conversation, but never seemed to get things in the right order. So when he arrived at the store, he headed straight for the garlic section (for he was sure that his wife had mentioned garlic). However, when he got there, he stared at the $10 bill in his hand. She had asked him to buy $4.95 worth of garlic, or was it $9.54, or maybe $5.94??? He was positive that he had the correct digits, but for the life of him could not remember their order