Another abomination at the register is occurring at supermarkets around the city. People paying for groceries with a written check. I'll repeat that, people actually write a physical, tangible, check. Seriously, who uses a checkbook anymore?? The disaster isn't using a written check to pay for groceries, it's the time people take to write them out. Not two weeks ago I was in a grocery store when a song I am familiar with was being played on the store's sound-system. The lady in front of me was getting out her checkbook when the song began, and the song had ended before she was finished. It was a song that's well over four minutes long. If you must write your checks, at least be considerate of the six people in line behind you that have gotten used to paying for their groceries in less than 15 seconds ..... and follow these very simple steps that will make the people behind you in line hate you less.
1. As soon as you are done unloading your cart, walk to the writing counter in front of the cashier.
2. Immediately take out your check book and determine where you are. If you are at Ralph's, then write "Ralph's" right after where it says pay to the order of. Get ahead of the game, there is no need for you to do anything but write the name of the store in its proper spot.
3. This is where it gets tricky. You must avoid telling the cashier boring stories about your life that she does not care about in the slightest of ways. Instead, there are two other things you can fill out immediately on your check, what are they? Your name and the date, get to it !!!! Now write your name and the date, and voila, you are ready for step four. Avoid non-sense chitter chatter with the cashier ..... at all costs.
4. You are now ready to close the deal, all you have to do write in the amount when the cashier tells you your total, and you're done.
There is nothing worse than getting behind somebody who is going to pay by writing a check, and they don't even open their check book until they get the total cost. You might not have anything better to do with your day, but other people behind you do. Under no circumstances should it take longer than 30 seconds to pay for anything that doesn't require financing.
Nobody will ever tell you this, but anytime you use a credit card for a minor purchase or write a check ... everybody in line behind you wants to use you as a pinata.
