# "I won't sign that thing." **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 28, 2004, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-sign-that-thing/236904 "2004-03-28T11:17:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-sign-that-thing/236904/1 "2004-03-28T11:17:07Z")
Today (yesterday, whatever) at work, I was ringing up some guy’s purchases. He gave me his credit card, which I swiped on the register. “Sign and press enter, please.” “I won’t sign that thing.” _:me starts packing sheets and pillowcases into bag:_ “I’m sorry, what?” “I won’t sign that thing. That electronic thing.” _:customer points to the…whatever you call that doohickey, where you either punch in your PIN or sign for your credit card. It’s also used to input your SS# when appropriate, and show customers stuff they need to verify, like name and address for items to be shipped:_ “If you can print out something for me to sign, I’ll sign that.” “Okay…uh…huh.” _:me feels like one of the legendary too-stupid-to-live-because-they-draw-a-blank-when-presented-with-an-unfamiliar-situation cashiers so often lambasted in the Pit:_ “Uh…Sometimes, the machine malfunctions and it does print out something for you to sign…but I don’t know how to **make** it do that. Uh…” _:me scans register screen for options, of which there are none:_ “I don’t like to sign those things.” “Okay…I can call a manager…” _:me picks up phone:_ “I’m just gonna scribble something.” _:customer makes illegible scrawl with stylus. me puts phone back:_ “Okay then!” _:me watches receipt print out:_ “Okay; you saved ten dollars and one cent!” _:me hands receipt and card across counter, walks around counter to hand bag to customer:_ “I think they’re using these things to collect everyone’s signature.” _:me decides against asking who ‘they’ are, or what they plan to do with ‘everyone’s’ signature. me also decides against informing customer that every employee, who is required to clock in and out on register, makes the same illegible scrawl when asked for their own signature:_ “Okay! Thank you for choosing [store]; have an outstanding day!” ---
**Author:** ![nocturnal\_tick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@nocturnal\_tick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nocturnal_tick)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-sign-that-thing/236904/2 "2004-03-28T11:23:07Z")
Tell me did he have a cap covering the tin foil around his head. 😛 I guess I can understand the possibility of him believing some forgery scam but really, a signature? Is that it? That guy thinks his signature is safe on a piece of paper. ---
**Author:** ![RayMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e495f1/32.png) [@RayMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RayMan)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-sign-that-thing/236904/3 "2004-03-28T12:12:32Z")
I don’t blame the guy. I don’t like to sign on those electronic pads, either, because of all the possible nefarious things they can do with my signature. I’m not a paranoid conspiracy theorist–just someone who likes to play it safe in today’s electronic age. The difference between me and this guy is that I would keep my phobia to myself, and politely pay cash instead. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-sign-that-thing/236904/4 "2004-03-28T12:29:10Z")
The guy was reasonably vigilant, in my opinion. > **[Big Brother is watching](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=247478)** > > http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/ZDM/big\_brother\_commentary\_pcmag\_040218.html Now this is scary. They can take any info they find on servers they confiscate and do what ever they wish with it. It makes on afraid to go anywhere on the net. ---
**Author:** ![cichlidiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@cichlidiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cichlidiot)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-sign-that-thing/236904/5 "2004-03-28T12:36:50Z")
The part I don’t get about this is, people sign regular credit card slips and checks all the time. If a store is so unscrupulous, as to be collecting signatures for nefarious purposes, what’s the difference? Trusting them with one type of signature, but not another. There’s even less of a paper trail with the first form. No stubs to worry about being mishandled, etc. Maybe I’m missing something. 😕 On preview, I read the linked thread, but am not sure what you are going for **Lib**. Signing a hard copy, still links you to a place and particular purchase, or were you going for something else? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-sign-that-thing/236904/6 "2004-03-28T12:41:31Z")
Once ‘they’ have all the signatures…they begin their enslavement of humanity. I’m holding out. I sign _ **nothing!** _ ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-sign-that-thing/236904/7 "2004-03-28T13:00:21Z")
> [@RayMan](#): > > The difference between me and this guy is that I would keep my phobia to myself, and politely pay cash instead. Yeah, that’s what I was wondering: “Why do you even **have** a credit card, then?” And **cichlidiot** , the irony is that the electronic keypad system may have been implemented partly to insure the customers’ safety: so unscrupulous employees can’t harvest signatures to commit credit fraud. **Lib** : I was reading the thread you linked just before I posted this. Although some good points were made there, I still think Mr. IWon’tSign’s caution was a bit misguided. If “they” decide to go after him, I hardly think they’re going to use my employers as their primary source of information. “DMV? Bank? SSI? Nah, those are dead ends: let’s find out where this guy buys his sheets and towels, and go from there!” ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-sign-that-thing/236904/8 "2004-03-28T13:11:23Z")
My signature is always so bad on those that it bears little to no resemblance to how I sign it on paper anyway, so I haven’t worried, really. ---
**Author:** ![cichlidiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@cichlidiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cichlidiot)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-sign-that-thing/236904/9 "2004-03-28T13:23:57Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > And **cichlidiot** , the irony is that the electronic keypad system may have been implemented partly to insure the customers’ safety: so unscrupulous employees can’t harvest signatures to commit credit fraud. I agree. I mentioned the potential for mishandled stubs, and figured a hard copy wasn’t really any safer. I also think **whiterabbit** makes a good point. It looks like I’ve signed with my foot on the electronic pads. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-sign-that-thing/236904/10 "2004-03-28T14:57:31Z")
It’s just as easy, if not easier to steal this guys signature from a piece of paper. It’s called whiteout and a Xerox copier. 😃 Collecting signatures? Um…yeah, Paranoid Schizophrenia? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-sign-that-thing/236904/11 "2004-03-28T15:07:24Z")
So what makes people think that I couldn’t scan a signature in and use it in the same way as supposedly it is being used by the electronic signature collecting machine? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-sign-that-thing/236904/12 "2004-03-28T15:29:10Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > Once ‘they’ have all the signatures…they begin their enslavement of humanity. > I’m holding out. I sign _ **nothing!** _ So how _is_ that paper route working out for you? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-sign-that-thing/236904/13 "2004-03-28T15:34:46Z")
Boy, are you guys going to feel silly when the sun’s about to blow up and everyone has to sign for their ticket on the space ark. “I dunno…this doesn’t look like the signature I have for you on file…maybe you can get a seat on the next spaceship.” ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-sign-that-thing/236904/14 "2004-03-28T16:20:31Z")
But then on the other hand, these people will use those “discount cards” every store seems to have now. Where they scan your card through and tell you how much you saved. What they have just done is tell manufacture / distributor of the items you bought, exactly what items you bought, your name, address and telephone number. (Pinhead consumer response: Yeah, but I saved 37 cents.) ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-sign-that-thing/236904/15 "2004-03-28T16:21:32Z")
Did you compare his scawl to the signature on the back of the credit card? Because I would’ve. His “I don’t like to sign those things” routine could’ve been a cover for using a stolen card and being unable to match the signature. ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-sign-that-thing/236904/16 "2004-03-28T16:29:21Z")
What a strange fellow. Maybe he thinks the government is out to get him. Like many others do. I don’t know how I would feel signing one of those things, because I haven’t had to yet. I guess I am screwed, since my handwriting changes with my mood. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-sign-that-thing/236904/17 "2004-03-28T16:45:22Z")
When I worked in a grocery store in high school, we had a woman customer who insisted that we not scan any of her purchases. The items had to be rung up by hand, which involved punching in the UPC code into the register. Because of the radiation, you see. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@The\_Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tim)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-sign-that-thing/236904/18 "2004-03-28T17:54:12Z")
My signiture is an ever changing squiggle that tends towards a line on those electronic pads. No one seems to say anything about it, even those who want the signature for official documents and the like. I suppose this makes my signature more vulnerable to theft, and I’ve been thinking about trying to actually sign things in a more distinctive manner. However I have the feeling if I did so people would start checking it and point out that in my other signatures all there is is a line. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-sign-that-thing/236904/19 "2004-03-28T19:33:02Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Ivylass_ > When I worked in a grocery store in high school, we had a woman customer who insisted that we not scan any of her purchases. Did _my mother_ shop there?? OMG, she was _so_ paranoid about stuff like that! She wouldn’t have a microwave oven, for Og’s sake, because it “caused cancer”; didn’t stop her from smoking two and a half packs of cigarettes a day, though :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-sign-that-thing/236904/20 "2004-03-28T20:55:58Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Did you compare his scawl to the signature on the back of the credit card? Because I would’ve. His “I don’t like to sign those things” routine could’ve been a cover for using a stolen card and being unable to match the signature. D’oh! I didn’t think of that! But I had already asked for his ID. I’m highly vigilant about that, even when there’s a photo on the front of the card. Only one person has every objected, and numerous people have thanked me! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-sign-that-thing/236904.md?page=2)