It probably helps that you have to be a member to shop at Costco, so they have all your personal info already.
There is a restaurant in Cambria, on the central California coast, that is know for good food and a long line. They only accept cash and checks. No credit cards. They have an ATM in the bar by the way.
Also, have you considered the Moth Radio Hour?
Every now and again I hear a segment from this on This American Life or something. It’s great.
There is a live performance thing they do locally, and I have thought about attending, but that would require a lot of courage. It might be easier to do a radio show if they let you record your piece. The idea of a live performance makes my skin crawl, but I bet I could do it with a little practice.
Walmart still accepts checks, I think. Yay?
Like others, I literally only write checks for rent. There’s a fee for credit cards, and I’ll be damned if I give the evil bastards one penny more than I have to…although I guess the fee isn’t going to them.
I write checks to my landlord, my tax preparer and my insurance agent. Barring any random one-offs, that’s it.
Given that I spend a non-trivial portion of each workday staring at counterfeit checks, I’m right there with you all when it comes to phasing them out of my life, but those holdouts aren’t going anywhere soon.
I’m also really bummed that I don’t remember any of the good stories from the summers I spent working a grocery store.
I thought I might have occasion to write a cheque the other day so I went looking for the chequebook. Turns out I don’t have any left, and probably haven’t for over a year. Ended up not needing a cheque anyway.
Oh, if we’re just doing check stories now, I applied for, was offered, and accepted a new job a couple years ago. I know setting up direct deposit usually involves bringing a voided check, and I’d moved at least twice since the last time I ordered checks so they all had very old addresses. There were about three weeks between accepting the offer and my first day, so I figured to cover all my bases I’d order some new, correct checks.
And then two days later the job offer was withdrawn due to a hiring freeze, right after I’d paid extra to have the new checks expedited.
And then about a year after this, I got a call that they were hiring for the position again, and it was mine—for real this time—if I still wanted it. I did! Of course, I’d moved again since then, so the checks I’d ordered last time had out of date addresses again.
But the address doesn’t truly matter, and I knew that the first time around, I was just so excited that first time I wanted everything as frictionless as possible. I did not order new checks the second time I got the offer, and of course everything went without a hitch.
Huh, why? It certainly doesn’t here. You just tell your employer your bank account details.
In America, we don’t trust that you know which is the routing number and the account number, so you have to have a check.
Yeah, this. And again, you don’t have to do this (as far as I understand), you can provide other documentation for the routing and account numbers, but many employers strongly encourage it—mostly for the simplicity/laziness of handling all new hires the same way. And having the address correct really doesn’t matter unless you get an HR person with an axe to grind for some reason.
But as I said, this was all just me trying to be overprepared.
You wrote a book? Does it have stories like the scratch-off one? What’s it called, and is Tim Elhajj also your pen name?
Edit: great thread, btw! I used to work as a stock boy in a supermarket when I was 15, but I can’t recall a single good story, nor even the name of a single co-worker (except for Mik, because his comedy side gig finally took off, and he started appearing on tv.)
Here is the book. It came out so long ago, I can’t even remember what’s in it anymore. These are mostly stories from after I got sober.
Thank you! It looks interesting, and the reviews on Amazon are great, so I think I’ll be putting the kindle edition on my reading list.
Dig it, Nikolaj! I worked hard on it and hope you like it.
Now I have to get the next one done. Onward!
You’ll let us know when it’s out there right? I mean built in audience and all that.
You guys are awesome. I definitely will. The older I get, the easier it is for me to shamelessly pimp the … I mean, do the necessary work of promotion. :)
During my first 2 years at uni, I worked courthouse security. There were 5 old buildings all within a half mile radius, with one, two or three security personnel in each depending on the building size and importance. As a shift manager, I was constantly walking from one site to the other, shifting people around so they won’t get bored, and dealing with problems.
One day I got a call from one of the guys. He was sitting by himself in the most remote building. It’s a very small place with a single room where a judge presides over some boring civil disputes. Nothing ever happens there.
So he’s calling on the radio (the entire shift is on the same channel) asking that I come over as soon as possible. I asked him what’s the matter but he won’t say and just asks that I come over immediately.
As it happened I was busy with something so it was no less then half an hour before I got there. I found him sitting behind his desk looking a bit down. It was as quite as you’d expect from such a place. No shouting, no fighting (we had a lot of that at the criminal courts). I was about to ask him what’s wrong when a couple came in and asked for directions to the courtroom. He told them to take the stairs without getting up from behind his desk. After they left I reminded him that we’re supposed to greet visitors standing up.
As a reply he raised his hands. They were cuffed together. He was bored, cuffed himself and then found out he forgot the key somewhere. He didn’t want to explain that over the radio for everyone to hear, so he just sat there until I came, dreading that he’d be called to leave his post.