I've got like 4 years left. Stop wasting them.

No but some accept checks.

In the US they're weirdly still popular. And not for big one-off purchases either, normal stores and restaurants take them. It's like going back in time three or four decades.

I worked at AutoZone 7 years ago, we had a scanner thing that'd just read the check numbers on the bottom and run it like a debit card without a pin.

I'd tell people to not fill out the check, cause it doesn't matter at all, it didn't read it, and I give the check right back anyway, it could even be used again if the dorks would stop filling them out for no reason.

Even after all my telling them before and while they filled them out, they'd be in such disbelief when I returned their check after 3 seconds. Some would even be angry for them wasting time filling it out when it didn't even matter. Like guy I told you multiple times, how could anyone get upset at me for that.

In the UK they died with the cheque guarantee card.

I had to write software to print cheques on a slip printer about 20 years back. Had nobody ask for them since. I took that function away by accident a few years ago and nobody complained. They still make the printers, but they don't get used for cheques. More for prescriptions and other things that just need a small slip of paper that can't be trivially copied by a crackhead.

I worked at an Albertsons a couple years back for a summer and we still took checks. And there were definitely people who used them, although more often I think it was people who were using some kind of unemployment or other social programs. But yeah whenever it wasn't a check like that it was an older person who would write the check out once they saw the total.

It's normal for a check transaction to take that long; it's hasn't been normal for people to be paying by check since the late 2000's, if not sooner.

It honestly surprises me that many merchants still accept checks, given that they won't verify immediately.

a check may gain some time for those who may need it. Transaction is not instantaneous. It may take a week or longer.

use cash. don't leave traces.

I have two hands. One is occupied by my wallet that I just took the cash out of. The other is occupied by the change that was just handed back to me. Which hand am I supposed to push the cart or carry my stuff with? Just be patient for a moment.

Nah, I'll do it right when the cashier hands it back to me at the check stand before I grab all of my stuff and then walk out so I'm not fumbling shit all over the walkway and impeding even more people. 10 seconds isn't going to kill you.

Do what I do-

Yeah so in the civilized world we prefer to carry our health card and a piece of ID anyway, but if you live in the States the first one doesn't exist and... Well... The second one doesn't really exist either...

But you know, a bank card takes way less space than a cellphone in your pockets, just saying.

There’s a pile of basket near the counter left there by the people I ranted about.

Two reasons against this:

• Usually people visit shops by car, without a backpack – at least where I live.

• Putting stuff in your backpack may require some more careful planning than just throwing it back into the basket temporarily, before you pack your backpack for real at the packing table. People do do that, blocking the end of the checkout. If the cashier doesn’t wait, you need to be careful not to have your items mixed up with the previous customer’s.

Plenty of people live in places in the U.S. where they don't let you carry backpacks around in stores.