checks and balances

  How often do you write a check? I thought about that the other day when the occasion arose that I did need to write a check. The first problem was locating a checkbook. I've got several around and did locate one. Of course there was no ledger with it, I rarely wrote in that even when I wrote checks frequently, me being aware of that balance. It isn't like it was ever such a huge number I couldn't recall. So having located a check I did make sure the account number was correct. I filled that legal document out according to the form I was taught by my mother. Yes, Mom taught me how to do that. She was always a stickler for filing it out correctly, striking a line through areas where there was no writing. She frequently left notes in that lower left hand corner. Having filled it out  and signing it I inserted that into the envelope provided. I smiled thinking it would be a few days before the bank would even receive that. Remember when we all figured on that? Admit it, you wrote a "bad" check knowing you would make a deposit before that check hit the bank. We all did that. 

 I remember ordering checks from the bank. At one time I had then that looked like parchment paper and with an old fashioned font. You could get them in all styles, I imagine you still can. I used to think if I had a lot of money I would get one of those check ledgers like you saw on television. You know the ones, they look like a big book and have several checks per page with a column for recording the amount and payee. I was always impressed by that. I had done some upholstery work for a retreat of Nuns and it was time to get paid. I was directed to the Mother Superior office. I removed my hat and entered that sanctuary. It was rather dark and Mother Superior sure looked stern to me, She looked straight at me and I thought she could see my every wrongdoing since I was a child! On her desk was this large book. She opened it to reveal it was a checkbook, Gods checkbook! It was the only time I had complete confidence that the check would be good. It was. You know, I still think if I win the lottery I will get one of those checkbooks and a big desk.

 I wonder if checks will still be around in the future, as a financial instrument. Or will they eventually go the way of the house phone. I don't know many people that have a hard wired telephone on their kitchen wall anymore. Relics of the past now, rarely seen and an amusement of sorts. My sister had a pay phone in her laundry room that actually functioned. It was a joke. She said the kids had to use that. It may be there still, I can't say. But I do remember having a cordless phone when they first became available. I thought it was pretty cool that you could walk outside with that phone and it still worked, as long as you stayed in range anyway. One day my oldest brother shows up with a cell phone! Now that was an early one, came in a briefcase, and cost like ten bucks to make a call. The service was very limited but extremely cool, almost James Bond cool. Look at what we have now. We really do have the Dick Tracey technology. The majority of those using it have no idea who Dick Tracey is. 

 Well it was just something that I thought about, writing checks. Remember when they couldn't verify your check at the store? I do. Then they began checking them over the phone line in an amazing display of technology. Sometimes those checks would be refused! That stupid bank must have made a mistake, I have the money in the bank! Yeah, the bank never knows what you have or don't have. It's a scam! Of course we didn't call it a scam back then, we called it something else, depending upon our mood. I occasionally see someone writing a check at the grocery store. Usually it is a little old lady, hunched over that check, filling it out carefully like it is the Declaration of Independence or something. then filing in the ledger portion and making a note in the lower left hand corner. I just smile and remain patient, reminds me of my mother. Mom still refuses to have an ATM card, insisting it is a credit card and will have no part of it. It took my sister and I several years to convince her to get a cell phone. I still think she only did so when it became difficult for her to get out of the chair. Don't send her a text or a picture though, that will freak her out and frustrate her. Also do not send her a gift card. She will not use that thing. She is still good with a check though, no problem there. You should see her fill out a deposit slip. it's like a work of art. Checks and balances. Today I guess it is just about the balances, the checks not so much. Electronic transfer of funds is the way we do it. Not in my lifetime but one day, no cash at all. It will all be, in the cloud, somewhere, being electronically transferred. A check will be a novelty, like a subway token. 

 I think it is that way with personal checks anyway. Financial institutions still issue checks. I wonder how long that practice will continue. You know I remember getting a penny in the mail, a real penny. You could use that to buy ten records or tapes! I believe I even got a nickel one time as well. I haven't seen that in a while. Now the closest thing to that would be a coupon code. Just enter the code for a discount. What happened to Green stamps? Well, things change I suppose. Personal checks? It does require a degree of trust to accept one of those. Have we lost that trust? Or, is it just business? The big question? Will you take a check? LOl