True story: after my dad moved to Israel in 1971, he tried to get into Hebrew University in Jerusalem to get a graduate degree. They wouldn’t accept his college diploma because they couldn’t read the Latin. He had graduated from Yale.
(We ended up going back to the States so he could go to NYU, which is why English is my first language).
Probably still bent out of shape with that kerfluffle back around 70ad, Masada and all that. 
I once (maybe twice) had to have a credit card replaced because the magnetic stripe was so worn that some store machines had trouble reading it.
I knew a kid who opened a checking account so he could deposit his first-ever paycheck. Next day at the shop he was wondering aloud why he had so many more checks than deposit slips in the checkbook. Didn’t take long for him to work that one out.
Dan
I’ve had to replace my debit card a couple times because of use. I’m not sure how long my current one is going to last either. I don’t ever carry cash, so I’m always using it.
The newer chip cards are much harder to wear out than the mag stripes were. And tap-and-go RFID cards will outlast the technology to read them.
I love chip cards, because I tend to demagnetize the stripes (and always have to get a replacement hotel key card after a day or two).
It’s a super power… that I wish had a practical aspect (Ooh, is there a brand of electronic vault door that I could deactivate, just by lounging near it?)
My ex got new jobs the way normal people change clothes. She started her new job at a bank and found out she could get an advance on her paycheck. She did so. Then she couldn’t figure out why her paycheck was for less than she thought it should be. She didn’t realize where the advance came from- she thought it was just available extra money for the asking.
Good one! At least then I’d know it was working (yeah, tinfoil hat people, it’s a bonus feature)!
But I’ve been messing with the electron orbitals of credit cards for decades. I could think “Uh, oh, something’s wrong with me”, but nope, I just consider it a super power.
I am expecting to see myself in one of these threads one Day.
A few years ago on a very windy day I was in a parking lot getting ready to go into the store to buy some groceries.
The guy loading his groceries into his car said to me, “Damn it’s so cold with this F***ING wind!!”
I point up to the series of windmills on the the top of the mountains across the valley, and 'Maybe the wind wouldn’t be so bad if they shut those DAMN fans off !!!" and just turned around and walked into the store.
I never did see his reaction.
Windmills do not work that way! Goodnight!
Well played!
I was at the car parts counter one day. The guy couldn’t enter the part number because the 5 on the computer’s number pad wouldn’t work. I said “Here, just use this one” and tapped the 5 above the R on the keyboard. He was a bit annoyed he hadn’t thought of it before.
I was showing my wife the circuit breaker box so she’d know what to do if one tripped.
“See how that one says ON?”
“It says OZ”
“It’s sideways”
I have an ex who insisted that everything was a 50/50 chance, because either it would happen or it wouldn’t, right? 50/50. Stands to reason.
He would have been nice to my cats if I had any.
I’d never checked to see which way the lettering read, but why do circuit breaker boxes have the switches installed sideways like that? Is there any particular reason beyond it’s just the way it’s always been done?
Damn, that is a good point.
That I have never thought about.
Up=ON, Down=OFF is pretty well ingrained in most cultures.
(…and Sideways = OZ)
To the point where I will go out of my way to “fix” switches that are “wrong” (when lights can be switched from two different locations).
Uneducated guess: They fit better in the panel that way. If they were vertical, you might need three columns instead of two.