Bread Came Sliced is another one of those nostalgia blogs that you just need to go look at, because I can’t explain it to you. It’s on Livejournal, which is a little bit of a strange choice of host for what is basically a public photoblog, but that just adds to the overall charisma. You’ll see photos in there you forgot about, photos you never knew existed, and photos that could have been taken by your parents or grandparents. Highly entertaining.
Incidentally, I totally remember grocery stores looking like the one in the above picture. I used to get in trouble for playing with the paper bags.
Oh, and the other day someone told me that people in the United States still write paper checks. Like… now, in 2009. Can you believe that? I’m not sure about the veracity of that claim, though. It seems pretty unlikely, actually, that something as simple and ubiquitous as chip-and-PIN technology has eluded the grasp of the world’s most influential superpower, but if it is true… how very, very quaint. It makes me want to go out and write a ton of checks for old times’ sake— it never occurred to me that something like that would even be possible anymore, since the rest of the world moved on more than a decade ago.
I wonder if American cars still have cassette players. That would be awesome… but not as awesome as 8-track.
Of all my clients, the Associated Press is the only one who pays me via ACH. All others still send me checks.
I still write checks for certain things, like the mortgage payment, because GMAC actually charges me a fee to pay with a bank card. Bullshit.
Wow, so it’s TRUE! I wouldn’t have been more surprised if you’d told me that horse-drawn carriages are all the rage there.
The store where I work (department store) only accepts payments for the store charge when paid by check or cash, debit is not an option and we get in trouble if we allow it.
I know very few people who use on-line banking or automatic payment methods, everyone uses checks. I assume when you say chip-and-PIN that you’re referring to a debit card, not sure how that works. You have to go to where you owe money and swipe your card? You certainly couldn’t/wouldn’t want to mail your PIN number I would imagine.
Well no, if you’re paying for something remote you’d just do it on the company’s web site (like bills or whatever), but if you’re paying for groceries or something at a shop, you just touch the chip on your card to the sensor on the remote number pad at the cash register (or swipe the card if the machine isn’t chip-enabled), approve the amount, type in your pin, and boom, done, on with your day.
Of all my clients, the Associated Press is the only one who pays me via ACH. All others still send me checks.
I still write checks for certain things, like the mortgage payment, because GMAC actually charges me a fee to pay with a bank card. Bullshit.
Wow, so it’s TRUE! I wouldn’t have been more surprised if you’d told me that horse-drawn carriages are all the rage there.
The store where I work (department store) only accepts payments for the store charge when paid by check or cash, debit is not an option and we get in trouble if we allow it.
I know very few people who use on-line banking or automatic payment methods, everyone uses checks. I assume when you say chip-and-PIN that you’re referring to a debit card, not sure how that works. You have to go to where you owe money and swipe your card? You certainly couldn’t/wouldn’t want to mail your PIN number I would imagine.
Well no, if you’re paying for something remote you’d just do it on the company’s web site (like bills or whatever), but if you’re paying for groceries or something at a shop, you just touch the chip on your card to the sensor on the remote number pad at the cash register (or swipe the card if the machine isn’t chip-enabled), approve the amount, type in your pin, and boom, done, on with your day.
Shaun writes checks for the tag agency because they don’t take cards, I believe, he’s had the same box of checks for a decade or something. I never ordered checks for my account.
In line at the grocery store it is exclusively elderly women whipping out their checkbooks at the last second. At wal-mart they have a device where you don’t have to do anything but date & sign the check, they feed it through and it fills in everything else.
Shaun writes checks for the tag agency because they don’t take cards, I believe, he’s had the same box of checks for a decade or something. I never ordered checks for my account.
In line at the grocery store it is exclusively elderly women whipping out their checkbooks at the last second. At wal-mart they have a device where you don’t have to do anything but date & sign the check, they feed it through and it fills in everything else.
There is one food store and one restaurant I go to that only take cash or check, no cards accepted. Also my rent has to be check or cash.
I have a 2003 VW Jetta that came with a CD/cassette player.
Back to the checks. If I pay my gas or water bill by a card there is a “convenience fee” added on, so I write checks. Some items, like concert tickets, can only be purchased with a card, and there is a fee for using a card added to each ticket !
Still wonder why the flags are upside down here in the land of freedom ?
There is one food store and one restaurant I go to that only take cash or check, no cards accepted. Also my rent has to be check or cash.
I have a 2003 VW Jetta that came with a CD/cassette player.
Back to the checks. If I pay my gas or water bill by a card there is a “convenience fee” added on, so I write checks. Some items, like concert tickets, can only be purchased with a card, and there is a fee for using a card added to each ticket !
Still wonder why the flags are upside down here in the land of freedom ?
Yeah… the porn store (today is my last day – YAY!) only takes cash, credit, or debit. No checks. I’ve actually only had maybe four people try to pay with checks. I have to write checks for rent, but that’s it.
My ’76 Toronado was the only car I had with an 8-Track, which I thought was awesome… but I’m totally irritated that my ’90 Cadillac has a tape deck and not a CD player, especially since they were available.
Yeah… the porn store (today is my last day – YAY!) only takes cash, credit, or debit. No checks. I’ve actually only had maybe four people try to pay with checks. I have to write checks for rent, but that’s it.
My ’76 Toronado was the only car I had with an 8-Track, which I thought was awesome… but I’m totally irritated that my ’90 Cadillac has a tape deck and not a CD player, especially since they were available.
Yup checks are still very common here. I sure wish they would go away!! They are so annoying. And they have implemented so many security processes when you write a check at the store that if the person in front of you busts out the check book be prepared to wait.
Yup checks are still very common here. I sure wish they would go away!! They are so annoying. And they have implemented so many security processes when you write a check at the store that if the person in front of you busts out the check book be prepared to wait.
I was just in the States and was shocked to see a sign on a small-town restaurant saying that they only accept cash and personal checks. I think that businesses get charged a fee to process credit-card transactions, so some of them just opt out.
When I lived in the U.S., I always paid my rent by check. And working as a freelancer, a lot of American publications still want to pay me by check too.
I was just in the States and was shocked to see a sign on a small-town restaurant saying that they only accept cash and personal checks. I think that businesses get charged a fee to process credit-card transactions, so some of them just opt out.
When I lived in the U.S., I always paid my rent by check. And working as a freelancer, a lot of American publications still want to pay me by check too.