# So I was in the bank the other day....... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 17, 2004, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-the-bank-the-other-day/269657 "2004-10-17T12:30:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-the-bank-the-other-day/269657/1 "2004-10-17T12:30:22Z")
I received a check from the state treasury the other day and went to the bank to cash it. I walked up to the teller and I was casually reading aloud, “Don’t spindle, fold, or mutilate.” Then I said to the tellar, " They still put that on them and they are not even punchcards anymore." The teller looked at me with a dull, blank stare and asked (I swear to God), “What is a punch card?” The teller in the next window doubled over laughing. I explained to my teller that all government checks used to come on punchcards and she replied, " I still don’t know what a punchcard is." and the other teller told her, " I will explain to you about punchcards." It wasn’t real busy and never missing an opportunity to flirt, I casually asked the other teller, “You learned COBOL on punchcards, didn’t you?” She told me that she refused to answer and I told her that I took FORTRAN on punchcards and asked if she ever saw a stack of her cards fly across the room. She told me that she saw it happen to someone else. Well folks, that was one of my special moments of the week. God, I should have died by the side of the road. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-the-bank-the-other-day/269657/2 "2004-10-17T12:47:38Z")
Okay, so I was at the grocery store the other day and the checker was bitching about the scanner not working so she had to key in a couple of prices. Of course I had to remind her of the days before there were any scanners and we had to key in the prices on everything. :::::drum roll::::: She then asked me… how in the hell did we remember the prices on everything? :smack: I tried to explain to her that we had to put tags on everything in the store and she just laughed and said, “No really”… **hlanelee** I seriously doubt if either one of 'em knows what a spindle is. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jujuju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@jujuju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jujuju)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-the-bank-the-other-day/269657/3 "2004-10-17T12:53:44Z")
i used to work in a grocery store where we had to key in prices. i knew the prices of the most bought items. i should’ve gone on price is right! cartons of cigs were 12.99 back then… my dad programmed on punch cards when i was little. what’s a spindle? is it those big machines with rolls of tape that were somehow involved with the punch cards? ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-the-bank-the-other-day/269657/4 "2004-10-17T13:11:38Z")
A spindle is an object that people used to and some may still (I’ve got one) keep on their desk top to temporarily keep items like receipts, business cards, notes, small pieces of paper etc… it looks like an ice pick with a base. You just stick it on the spindle so it doesn’t get lost until you need it. If you were to spindle a punch card, well you just screwed up your check. It don’t seem like that long ago since I had time cards and paychecks that were punched. I guess they’re not that obsolete…although I don’t recall ever having any big problems over any hanging chads. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-the-bank-the-other-day/269657/5 "2004-10-17T13:20:15Z")
We keep a spindle in our office, but don’t use it for spindling paper. It’s just a handy sort of thing to have about in case a client gets out of hand. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Mahma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@Joe\_Mahma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Mahma)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-the-bank-the-other-day/269657/6 "2004-10-17T13:42:26Z")
Wow. I never knew what Do Not Spindle meant. I didn’t know those things were called spindles, although I’d seen them. For some reason, I thought do not spindle meant do not roll up (into the shape of a spindle. Sheesh. Some things just go right by me. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-the-bank-the-other-day/269657/7 "2004-10-17T15:28:38Z")
Spindles… That reminds me of a story. When I first moved into my BF’s house I noticed a spindle on the shelf above the kitchen sink. I thought “Cool, a spindle” and proceeded to stick a bunch of things like reciepts, phone numbers, directions, etc. on it. Later, my BF asked me what I was doing with the meat thermometer! I turned it over, and sure enough it was a thermometer. ---
**Author:** ![Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji_Kitakyusho)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-the-bank-the-other-day/269657/8 "2004-10-17T15:54:38Z")
I have never used a spindle in my own professional capacity, but I certainly remember them as a kid… and not so fondly. Anyone else have a gross spindle injury to their hand as a result of visiting Dad at the office? ---
**Author:** ![LeeshaJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@LeeshaJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeeshaJoy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-the-bank-the-other-day/269657/9 "2004-10-17T16:02:57Z")
> [@hlanelee](#): > > I received a check from the state treasury the other day and went to the bank to cash it. I walked up to the teller and I was casually reading aloud, “Don’t spindle, fold, or mutilate.” Then I said to the tellar, " They still put that on them and they are not even punchcards anymore." Is THAT why they put that warning on stuff? I always thought it was just because they were anal-retentive about keeping paperwork neat. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-the-bank-the-other-day/269657/10 "2004-10-17T16:07:16Z")
> [@Fuji Kitakyusho](#): > > Anyone else have a gross spindle injury to their hand as a result of visiting Dad at the office? No, but my dad _does_ have paper tape scars - that’s hard core programming. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-the-bank-the-other-day/269657/11 "2004-10-17T16:17:04Z")
> [@Fuji Kitakyusho](#): > > I have never used a spindle in my own professional capacity, but I certainly remember them as a kid… and not so fondly. Anyone else have a gross spindle injury to their hand as a result of visiting Dad at the office? There is a really disturbing scene in The Butterfly Effect involving spindles. Two of them. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-the-bank-the-other-day/269657/12 "2004-10-17T17:06:50Z")
What a coincidence … [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=281359](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=281359) ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-the-bank-the-other-day/269657/13 "2004-10-17T18:16:11Z")
Speaking of scanners, did you hear about the checker-outer at the local Mall-Wart or May-Kart that spent several minutes looking for the barcode label on the square plastic tube that the customers put on the belt to separate their items from the next batch? Even called the supervisor. Once. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-the-bank-the-other-day/269657/14 "2004-10-17T18:51:39Z")
Sheesh. I’ve been using spindles in a professional capacity for years; they’re used at restaurants to get rid of tickets that have already been cooked. I never knew they were called “spindles”, though. I always refered to them as “ticket-stabby things”. I somehow guessed that wasn’t the official name, though. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-the-bank-the-other-day/269657/15 "2004-10-17T21:38:52Z")
Doesn’t everybody know what a spindle is from the \*Sleeping Beauty \* story? Did Disney screw that up, too?? Er, they used it for something different back then in story-telling olden days, but it was a still a sharp thing for poking. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-the-bank-the-other-day/269657/16 "2004-10-17T21:56:44Z")
I knew a spindle was a thing for spinning thread with (hey, I was a girlchild who read way too many fairy tales, what do you expect?) but I never knew it was something one could use in an office until I asked my mother.