Another Problem with Math

Another problem I have with math (pun very much intended) is when there start to be more letters involved than numbers. This usually happens somewhere around high school. They'll write out some big long thing on the board, consisting mostly of the letters a, b, x, and y, and tell you to solve it, knowing full well you just came back from lunch and are almost comatose because the room is so warm and your stomach is full.

And if you ever try to reason with your math teacher and say, "When am I ever going to need this in my real life? Nobody ever uses this type of stuff," your teacher will say something like "I use it everyday." Well of course they use it everyday! They have to teach it everyday! And that big long mess of alphabet soup on the board? The answer is always zero. That bugs me. I mean, where else can you do all that work, have nothing to show for it, and then be praised for your production of zero-ness?