Does anyone write out checks at the store any more? If you do, are you ready?

oh my I was talking at the same time of writing this. oops. not little brother. my Dear friend please forgive me. have not been to bed. How are the kids? Your sis in cold MN onlydia

You sound like a technophobe just like my friend, hehe. I guess if you don't bank online and can't keep track of your spending, you can become overdrawn. For me, checks are worse on that. I donate using checks usually because most animal rescues can't take credit cards. Sometimes the check is cashed so far after I wrote it that I completely forgot about it and then it will bounce. So for me, the debit card is far more convenient. I can just go online and check my balance and the change is immediate. If I go grocery shopping, right when I get home I can see the amount taken out. That said though, I still do use cash sometimes because I don't like being caught without cash on me and then having to buy something where they only take cash. I didn't even think you could write your ID on your check so that you wouldn't have to get out your ID. When I worked in retail, we had to see the ID anyway and type it all in. But I would not be resentful of a customer who wrote a check and had it all ready. But I have to say I have never seen anyone do that. Never. So if I saw you all nice and ready, I would be happy. But you're right I'd still be happier with people who have come into this century and embraced our wonderful technology. I can hardly wait until the day checks are completely obsolete. And some people work so they can't go shopping when the crowds are so thin. I work and go to school. I don't even have time to watch the television generally. I am sick and tired of people who get handouts while I am working my butt off. I am disabled too but I don't take handouts from the government like my friend does. And she could do a lot more for herself if she wouldn't be so afraid of technology. I don't think people should get special treatment for being disabled. I would yell at you in the store just like the next person if you were slowing down the line, I'm not giving people special treatment just because they think they're so special. Everyone is different and I'm plainly just sick of it. You probably get social security too and could shop whenever I suppose.

Debit cards are not that great! In fact, I just got my first one that is attached to my bank accounts a couple months ago. I have always used checks. Were it not for the current way the stores do the electronic checks I still would not have a debit card. I feel a lot better with writing a check than using the debit card. It is far too easy to swipe and leave without registering the amount in the checkbook and then becoming overdrawn. It is also too easy for the privacy to be corrupted. Technology isn't the best way of doing things in all situations. I prefer cash and checks myself, but I use the debit card now because of the dumb electronic check process and also because I sometimes now have to send someone to the store for me. I hope I have never been in the same line as you. I think you would be giving me a lecture. I don't purposely try to hold up any lines and when checks used to have to be written out I almost always had mine ready, including having my id number written on my check before time so I don't have to get out my id. However, it seems to me that even if you are trying to be courteous and helpful when you are in line and it is your turn, you sound like you are full of anger and resentment at the rest of the customers if they are not doing like you do. I would hate to think you were behind me thinking I was the names you just used in your response about me. The phrase "Patience is a virtue" did not come about for nothing. My suggestion to anyone who is in that big of a hurry and does not like to be in lines that might get held up by someone not able to go as quickly as they want to go, pick a different shopping time and go when the crowds are thin. I also wonder what kind of friendship you have with your disabled friend and does she know how you really feel about going shopping with her. I am disabled and if I thought people I called my friends thought that way about me, I would not be considering them much of a friend to me anymore. There are a lot nicer people who would not think such things about my being slow or needing a little help. I think your friend is doing great in that she is doing as much as she can for herself.

I do not think that getting disability benefits is "taking handouts" because I worked and earned what I get. That is what we pay for after all when we pay our social security taxes. And even those who have not had the opportunity to work but get the benefits I do not consider them as "taking handouts". By the way, I get benefits and I also work part time which is as much as I can handle. There are a lot of disabled people who receive benefits who are also working. Too many people out there can be pretty hurtful with their comments about those who need some extra help. I don't have a lot of respect for those who scam the system. But there are those who need the help and they should not be made to feel guilty for that. It is judgemental and those who judged tend to end up living the life of those they have judged eventually in one way or another. We work, we pay our taxes and our social security taxes. If we someday need to get that back, why the heck is that called "taking handouts"? That is what we paid into it for in the first place.

What she did was not a bad idea. There have been places that have charged the wrong sales tax in some of the stores in this area. Consumers take too much for granted that prices are correct and taxes are correct. Since I have been working at my current job for more than a year I have heard the complaints of customers who do check their receipts. I rarely check mine. But it makes me think that I should check it more often because these companies...they only have to make a penny or two "error" which isn't much to you or me, but added up over time from all their customers...it adds up to quite a big profit.

Oddly, the only places I've seen those check machines you describe are at doctors' offices and the hospital. I guess retailers will catch up.

Almost all our area retailers have these machines. Walmart is one that has them and they were the first in our area to have the kind where you don't even sign the check. You just hand them a totally blank check which they put thru their machine and it prints it, you sign a paper just like with a credit or debit card, and you get your check back with the receipt.

That surprises me. I would have thought Target was up to speed with the other large stores and uses the electronic check where people don't write them out or even sign them anymore. It is as quick as using a debit card but frustrating getting those checks back all the time.

Unfortunately, not everyone has the option to go inside to get that elusive deposit slip. Some people, like myself, are disabled and to have to go to the trouble to get out and to stand in line, which I cannot do, would mean they just don't go out at all. Thank God for the drive through, and I am sorry that people cannot be a little more patient in this fast serve world. With all the drive throughs, it is actually faster sometimes if you go inside. But the next time you are behind someone who is taking up your time, think about it that they may not have a choice. Also, they might have several small children in the car and it would not be reasonable for them to haul all the children into the bank just to have to chase them around and be disruptive inside. This is what the drive through is for after all. I think in this world where everything is self serve and fast food style, people have lost the ability to be patient with each other. I think we all need a little more patience with each other.

And you could also be courteous and go thru the line once to get the slip, explain to the clerk that you will fill this out and be back, especially if there are other people behind you. Amazing how some people lack basic skills in life.

Some places you don't even sign the check anymore. You sign a register receipt just like when you use a credit card. I don't like that either.

Actually, come to think of it...I think I would rather go back to the old ways even if it meant standing in line longer. I don't really like all this automation we have now. The personal touch is so much better.

I don't carry much cash anymore, but there are still a lot of things that need cash because credit cards and debit cards are not accepted. Most fast food places, for instance, only accept cash. At least around here. That is only one example. Vending machines also. I don't get out much anymore so I can't think of many other places, but I know that I need cash for things when I go out and try to make sure I have some whenever the banks are closed.