# To the nincompoop who wrote a check for a bottle of juice... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 20, 2003, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580 "2003-10-20T21:04:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580/21 "2003-10-21T07:22:19Z")
Guin: > [@](#): > > Don’t blame the cashier-she was just doing her job. Absolutely not blaming the cashier. In fact Gelsons’ cashiers are super-awesome. Who am I blaming? Altogether now… THE GUY WHO WROTE A CHECK FOR A FUCKING BOTTLE OF JUICE. Did I mention it was for juice? > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cicada2003 \* > Just FYI, some places make the cashier write the DL# on there just to prove that the cashier has looked at the ID. In that case it really wouldn’t matter if the DL# was imprinted–cashier would still have to look at it and possibly still have to write it. Yeah, but normally they can just circle it. But anyway, it just tends to point out how debit cards are vastly superior to checks in every way. Stop clinging to the past, people. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580/22 "2003-10-21T07:28:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jervoise \* > \*\*EFTPOS is Electronic Funds Transfer (at the) Point of Sale – it directly draws from your bank account. Supermarkets also allow us the handy option of drawing out extra cash along with EFTPOS payments. EFTPOS transactions are free (although most people pay for ATM withdrawals beyond a certain limit, which is another matter). > > My credit card is fee-free. \ > > Different customs, I guess. \*\* Nah, it’s just people who don’t want to get with the program. I assume you aren’t from the U.S., because we call it a “debit card”. It’s the same idea - it takes the money out of your bank account without all that writing of phone numbers and DL numbers and manager calling and crap. Personally, I use my credit card, which, like yours, has no fees. But many people feel they are incapable of paying off the balance each month, which is why a debit card would be the better option for them. ---
**Author:** ![dakravel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@dakravel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dakravel)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580/23 "2003-10-21T07:31:52Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t have a debit card because my bank charges a bunch of fees to have/use one. As soon as you offer to pay them for me, I’ll be happy to go ahead and use the card. I’m with Wells Fargo, I’m a poor college student, and up until recently I’d use my debit card for most everything. No fees at all. I’d recommend you find another bank. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580/24 "2003-10-21T07:42:58Z")
My checks don’t have my driver’s license or phone number on them. But then, I don’t have a driver’s license, and I rarely use checks, except to occasionally pay bills by mail. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580/25 "2003-10-21T07:46:44Z")
As a BTW: There’s no excuse for not having a no-fee debit card. If your bank charges a fee for one, get with one of the major banks that aren’t wankers about it. All you need is a checking account; you don’t even have to use them as your main bank. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580/26 "2003-10-21T08:28:48Z")
Quite probably the person doesn’t have their DL# and phone number on their checks because, amazingly, they use them in other places than the grocery store, and most of the other places do not require that information. And many of those other places are places to which you would prefer to not be giving your DL# and phone number. Just maybe. But I also suspect if the other lines were really that long, you still go through your line faster than if you had gone through another line. And I fail to see how just buying juice makes this somehow worse. I’m sure you would have been complaining if he’d also bought three loaves of bread. You’re just pissed because someone had the inconsiderate nerve to not plan their day around you. You might want to work on getting used to that. ---
**Author:** ![hyperjes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df705f/32.png) [@hyperjes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hyperjes)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580/27 "2003-10-21T09:42:44Z")
[hijack] **Cicada2003** , upon reading your post, it occured to me that I didn’t know how to write a check for less than a buck either. I asked **d\_redguy** , our household source of trivial, yet interesting, information. He claims that you write it out thusly- Zero dollars and 69/100\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ 0.69 I don’t think I’ll ever apply the knowledge though. Just sharing. 😃 [end hijack] ---
**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:** [October 21, 2003, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580/28 "2003-10-21T10:07:27Z")
Clerks always ask me for my phone number for the check. Once, I asked “If I was trying to pass a bad check, do you think I would tell you the truth?” After that, I always give them the wrong phone number if I have to pay by check. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580/29 "2003-10-21T10:28:36Z")
[Yet another hijack] Dunno about elsewhere, but here (Israel) you are expected to write in your own phone number on the sales slip before signing your name **when you pay with credit cards**. Nobody actually enforces the rule or checks that the number even looks valid, or anything like that. And cellphone is fine. Point? I have heard of several cases (in one case my father) where the credit card was forgotten by the payer. Establishment where card was forgotten got on the horn pronto _to the number supplied on the slip(!)_, making card return to owner that much easier. So - they’re **not** all out to get you. Sometimes, giving some form of contact actually **helps** [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580/30 "2003-10-21T11:33:17Z")
I have a debit card, but I find that with a check, I’m much more likely to make a record of the purchase, and therefore have a much easier time balancing my checkbook. I don’t have my phone number or my DL number printed on my checks. Why? Because if some asshole steals my checks, one will have to be written on there. When my apartment was burglarized several years ago, that’s actually how they caught the guy - he was stupid enough to write his own DL number on my checks. Sure, I don’t generally write checks for very small amounts - I carry a couple of bucks around with me for that. But to my mind, it’s not worth getting that worked up over. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580/31 "2003-10-21T17:25:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by obfusciatrist \* > You’re just pissed because someone had the inconsiderate nerve to not plan their day around you. You might want to work on getting used to that. Ooooooooooh! Guess you told me, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Morelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Morelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morelin)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580/32 "2003-10-21T17:58:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spooje \* > \*\*Clerks always ask me for my phone number for the check. > > Once, I asked “If I was trying to pass a bad check, do you think I would tell you the truth?” After that, I always give them the wrong phone number if I have to pay by check. \*\* You do know if Telecheck or whoever checks and the number is bad, the store doesn’t get paid, or credited, as the check is deemed ‘bad’, don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580/33 "2003-10-21T18:06:43Z")
Apparently not. ---
**Author:** ![Balle\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@Balle\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balle_M)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580/34 "2003-10-21T19:03:33Z")
I had a guy write a check for a 35 cent fuse. Thirty-five fucking cents. I would have given him the damn thing if he hadn’t been such a flaming bunghole about the whole thing. Remember folks, every time you hold up a line writing a check for under a dollar, the Terrorists have won. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580/35 "2003-10-21T21:11:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lsura \* > **I don’t have my phone number or my DL number printed on my checks. Why? Because if some asshole steals my checks, one will have to be written on there** I have to agree with Lsura here. I refuse to have my phone number or drivers license printed on my checks. Businesses ask for those to verify that the person using the checks should be. If my having them printed on the check means that no one looks at an id, I have just destroyed that form of verification. Like I want to make it easier for someone to use my checks if they are stolen?? This is the same reason that I don’t sign my credit cards. I write in big letters \*\* PLEASE SEE ID\*\*. That way the cashier has to ask for a picture id to go with the credit card. With as easy as it is to get your identity stolen, why make it earier for someone? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580/36 "2003-10-21T21:18:19Z")
I was amazed last week when a guy wrote a check for a soda and a deli sandwich at our local grocery store - 'cause why on earth would you ever want to carry around 4 bucks? You might get mugged… ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580/37 "2003-10-21T22:46:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by blowero \* > \*\*Nah, it’s just people who don’t want to get with the program. I assume you aren’t from the U.S., because we call it a “debit card”. It’s the same idea - it takes the money out of your bank account without all that writing of phone numbers and DL numbers and manager calling and crap. > > Personally, I use my credit card, which, like yours, has no fees. But many people feel they are incapable of paying off the balance each month, which is why a debit card would be the better option for them. \*\* When I travelled in the States (I used to have a sweetie there), hardly anyone had debit. It frustrated the hell out of me. It would have been so much easier for me to set aside an extra $12.00 for transaction fees and then have the debit machine do the CDN–\>US conversion for me. I went to a Perkins and asked if they took debit cards. They said yes. Then my debit card didn’t work. They looked at it, and said; “Oh, it has to be through a credit card company”, meaning, I guess, a cheque card or something. Here in Canada land, we have credit cards, debit cards, and cash. Not some unholy mishmash of the above. It is so much simpler! See, if all you 'Merricans had Interac like us, there would be no nightmares like cheques for bottles of juice, and no time-consuming security measures, because that can be bypassed by using a PIN. ---
**Author:** ![Magickly\_Delicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magickly\_Delicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magickly_Delicious)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580/38 "2003-10-21T23:09:06Z")
Geez, calm down. Sometimes stuff happens. I will never understand why people are okay with the whole ‘live and let live’ philosophy … until someone dares to write a check in front of them in a line. I probably did similar not so long ago. Why? I lived in a small town where stores commonly didn’t accept debit cards. Even when I was where debit cards were accepted, my stupid credit union had the cards through such an obscure vendor (Cirrus sucks!) that they were pretty much useless, both in stores and in ATMs I have my DL on my checks, but it doesn’t matter as most of the time, as even after I’ve pointed it out, the cashiers write it on there anyway. And where I am at, I have only been asked for a phone number on my check twice. I used to work as a grocery store cashier, and the “manager to aisle 7” was hardly the check-writer’s fault, as it probably meant the cashier didn’t know how to properly run the check through the machine. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580/39 "2003-10-21T23:33:44Z")
I always carry cash for purchashes under 20 bucks or so. So I kinda see where blowero is coming from. Even a debit card takes more time than a simple cash exchange. Anyway, shit happens. I just got a debit card. Just in case I need to use an ATM. I used to have an ATM card a long time ago, but found I could do with out it. But, you never know. Just went down to the local bar to pick up a pizza the other night for Mrs. enipla and me. Thought I would use my knew debit card. ''Sorry, we don’t take credit cards". — Wrote them a check. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580/40 "2003-10-22T00:23:09Z")
Actually, I kind of feel bad for the juice-check guy. Something like that happened to my dad once when I was a kid: we were at the grocery store to buy a Mother’s Day card for my Mom the night before, and we snagged the only card left, and it was $1.99. Guess what? Dad only had a buck in his pocket, and I was about eight so I spent my allowance at the candy store, so Dad had to write a check for the card. (Credit cards were not accepted at grocery stores back then, and Dad had the checkbook with him to pay for the lawn mower he got Mom as a gift - not one of his better Mother’s Days.) I chalked it up as a learning experience, and now I always leave about two bucks and some change in my ashtray in case of emergency small purchases like Mother’s Day cards or juice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-nincompoop-who-wrote-a-check-for-a-bottle-of-juice/208580.md?page=3)