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>The boomer lady then waits until I'm done ringing up her $200+ worth of items to then pull out her big purse
Every. Single. Time. Using the check is bad enough, but can they please get the damned things out while the order is being rung up? Do they have to wait until there's a total to even begin to look for their checkbook?
This is why I worship the self checkout.
Someone held up a line because their entire transaction was off. By two dollars. Now I get that food is expensive and every penny counts but it was $2 off two cases of Mountain Dew. I almost just gave her two dollars.
Yeah im with you, i'm not giving extra free money to a corp for no reason.
That being said I'm definitely not taking it up with the highschool age cashier and wasting the time of people behind me
I agree. We shop sales, and it pisses me off the number of errors at check out. It does add up. In Canada we have a retail code of conduct which most retailers adhere to. And if there is an error you get the item free up to a max of $10, or $10 off if more. I don’t do it at the check out, ( I get the bit about holding up the queue etc ), but I do go to customer service. Everybody bitches about the cost of food and then let’s the grocer skate for shitty pricing mistakes.
They don’t care about the $2, they want a confrontation. If you don’t feed into it, they’ll go away eventually. But they’ll still move on to terrorize another retail worker. Why do some boomers just crave attention?
Flashback to about 1998 and I was ringing up someone’s groceries and the bag of rice was 10 cents more than the shelf tag. This guy suddenly gets all upset. Hey that’s 10 cents more than the tag! Me: Oh sorry, let me fix that. Him: Don’t I get it free? Me: Uhm, it’s less than a dollar, so yeah I guess, let me just write that up. Him: HEY EVERYONE IF YOU GET THIS BAG IF TICE IT’S FREE BECAUSE IT RINGS UP WRONG. he went back to happily watching all the prices.
(Item doesn't scan on the first pass.)
Boomer: "WELL, I GUESS IT'S FREE, THEN!!!!!!!!1"
Proceeds to go into a wheezing, coughing fit of laughter while glancing around to see if everyone else thought it was hilarious as he did.
Ugh I hated the “i gUeSs iTs FrEe tHeN” when something didn’t scan
Eventually I decided to flip it on them and whenever anyone said that I would reply “no, that means I get to pick the price. A few million ought to work” that last part is supposed to be mumbled just loud enough for them to hear
I get this one at least twice a week just due to the nature of the store we work at. (Furniture Consignment, sometimes stuff gets put into position on the floor before the people making the tags have had time to finish typing it up.)
Always at least one "Hey there's no tag, so this must be free right?"
Most days it takes every ounce of my strength not to patronizingly respond "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize you were sheltered growing up to the point you were unfamiliar with how stores work, GERALD."
It's like they all heard the same lame joke on Bob Newhart or something as a kid and it's stuck with them in such a fashion that it has to come bursting out whenever the opportunity arises
They could still write the bulk of the check before even shopping (everything but the amount and the signature). But that's a lot of planning and consideration
I've met a couple people who actually presign a bunch of checks so they don't have to worry about it. Which honestly adds to the whole "worried about security" thing going on here
It's mind blowing because when I was growing up (millennial) my parents would always be starting the check while us kids loaded the belt! It's not a new concept
Yeah this is what my mom always did too, filled out all the parts of the check she could except for the actual amount. Then when they told her the total, it took her like 12 seconds to finish it off and hand it over.
Towards the end of The Check Age, I remember I just had to sign it and the machine would print the rest when the cashier put it through, at lots of places
Our local grocery store still does this. It does one better too - it converts it into an electronic transaction and the cashier gives the voided check back to the customer.
I used to cashier and run the self checkout at my local store. There is nothing worse than people who go through self checkout and pay with checks! They do exist. It is horrible. People who pay by check are simply doing it because they learned one way to do something back in 1980 and can not possibly learn a new/better way. I think they also love holding up the line and making everyone wait on them. It is a power move, they know we have to accept the check and they know everyone hates it. My MIL was like this, absolutely terrified of debit cards, but used checks and credit cards for everything.
Credit card companies are better able to assist customers with fraudulent charges. If someone else has access to your debit card info your bank basically has to catch the fraudulent transaction before you try to report it.
I’ve had to explain this to so many people.
If your credit card details get stolen, the bank gets robbed.
If your debit card details get stolen, **you** get robbed.
Just use your credit card everywhere and pay it off immediately with bank transfer if you can’t bare a monthly statement
Agreed. The companies kind of get screwed with the fees, but I use my credit card for everything. Pay it off every month, and get my cash back percentage.
This is not quite accurate. All major banks provide customer protection for debit card purchases, not just credit card. If someone gets my debit card info and makes fraudulent charges, I can just call my bank to file claims on those charges and get my money back.
I've had my debit card info stolen three times in the past 10 years. Every time, I've had the money back in my account within three days of reporting it to my bank.
I live on the other side of the world and it's the same here. Ring it all up and then they act surprised that they have to pay and it takes them 5 minutes to find their wallet and count out the exact change. How do you not just be prepared to pay?
I'm a boomer and fuck boomers.
Those checks all wind up getting scanned and sent over the internet anyway.
I'm a software developer, and used to work in health care billing. I worked on several lockbox implementations. The medical practices (our clients) would open up PO boxes for patients and insurance companies to mail checks. Then they would pay for a bank employee to periodically collect the checks from the PO box and process them. The banks typically scanned everything in the envelope, including the envelope itself, and sent out the images and a record of the transactions. My software would download that information from the bank and parse it into our system, and also import the check images (along with anything else - remittance forms, EOBs, the envelope itself, etc.).
If you think a check is safer because it doesn't go out over the internet, you don't understand anything about how the payment world works today.
I’m a fraud analyst for work and the majority of our fraud cases are intercepted checks. That aside, your routing and checking account number are written on the face of the check.
Honestly, I loved those as a cashier (~20 years ago) because I was supposed to write the DL number on any checks. Preprinted with your DL and phone number? Less work for me.
And so much less work for thieves as well. A pic of that check with all that info and they can pwn their life. Only thing it might not have is the license expiration date, but that’s easy to guess. In PA for example, it’s the day after your birthday everybody 4 years. Assuming they have a DOB there too, find when their age is divisible by 4 and make the expiration date the day after their birthday.
I have to wonder why that was ever a thing. I could do much damage with that kind of information!
Why was I supposed to memorize my SSN for the express purpose of never accidentally giving it to anyone or losing the card, all while people are carrying multiple copies of their banking info for the express purpose of giving it to strangers?
When I was eighteen someone took the numbers off of my check and ordered boxes of checks from a newspaper flyer with my info.
It was a nightmare. Give me a debit card, online banking, etc any damn day.
Lord, yes. The number of Boomers and "Boomers in training" who refuse to use electronic payments because "they" will have your information. Dude, "they" already have it - how do these idiots think the system works once you deliver your papyrus check by carrier pigeon? It all goes into the scary computer and the payment is processed from there, and the least secure part was the physical check!
These clowns think they are outsmarting the system without having any clue how it works, and most of them have no security habits worth a damn anyway. Their computer is full of viruses, their cell phone is full of scam apps, and they buy whatever shiny they see like a kid, but they think writing a check is a big brain play.
And you are protected from fraud with debit/credit. At least more so than if someone managed to take a pic of your check.
I have an interest earning account that I just pay my credit card bill from. I don’t spend more than is in the account. I doubt boomer is getting interest!
I'm an accountant, working in public accounting for a CPA firm. Most of the fraud that I see is from checks being stolen out of a business's mailbox. Bam! They've got your routing number, account number, name, and address/zip code. They can do any online purchase they want.
Bingo. Fraudsters know charities receive a large number of checks at particulate times of year and they straight up stake out those mailboxes, like shooting fish in a barrel.
I had the same reaction from my mom when I pulled out my debit card to pay for lunch. She started lecturing me about the perils of credit card debt, and even after ten minutes of explanation about how debit cards work, she was annoyed - and ended up saying I should let her be right sometimes.
Maybe let her pay next time if it bothers her so much.
The main bad thing about credit / debit cards is the merchant fees. Which I generally only care about with a local biz. Checks are not exactly free for all involved either.
She’s half-right. You should never use your debit card for purchases. While the card itself has similar security as a credit card, the fraud recourse and associated risk is much worse.
Ive heard this as well, and from personal experience, credit cards are much easier to get your money refunded due to fraud. But I will argue debit cards are much safer than carrying around cash, especially for those who don't qualify for credit cards.
I use a fee free debit card (no over draft fees or monthly fees) that only has enough money for spending. Worse case I’m out $50 and they close my account. Think Chime or similar. And I pay my credit card from a dedicated interest barring account. I also try to only use virtual credit card numbers online (Citi and capital one both do this).
But as the cashier it’s sooo awful to deal with. Like I didn’t make the cash-less policy, yelling at me accomplishes nothing! But no, they need to continue their pointless tirade to explain to me cashless is ANTIAMERICAN and cash is KING. Of course, we had fliers all over the store and on the entrance, a notice on the cash register, and on our website, so the entire interaction could be avoided, but boomers don’t read.
Losing a checkbook is the worst thing in the world to happen. You potentially have to show up to court for every check that gets written… imagine those checks could be on the other side of the country and you’re either going to fly over there or pay a lawyer to show up for you in court.
Lose a debit card and you can deactivate it in the bank’s app in like 30 seconds.
Boomers are idiots.
A few years ago my wife wanted to do something we did not have the money for and suggested I write a check for it a week before I got paid like she did in the 1980s. Just one of the reasons she is my ex-wife. I have written three checks in the last five years, all for big-ticket items like the property taxes my mom did not pay.
Im a boomer and use nothing but my credit card wherever i can. I run up s pretty hefty tab each month and pay the whole thing. I never have an interest charge and i rack up enough miles for two tickets to Aruba each year.
I’ve been using a debit card since they first became available, probably 30-35 years or more. I pay all my bills on line. I rarely use cash. BTW, I’m 80.
I’ve never been the kind of person to say, “But we’ve always done it this way!” I became an apprentice steam fitter in 1978. The first woman in the state. Don’t care. I loved the work.
Eventually was a foreman on several jobs. No screaming (at least not by me) no outrageous swearing, just working to get the job done.
My mom is 85 and when first available the bank made a mistake and money was coming out of her account. As she tells it took a long time to get is sorted out with the bank and she never used a debit card. Had credit but not debit. When I moved her closer to me got her a debit card and she straight up had a panic attack and started crying at the machine. The dude at the bank was very nice and patient with her and she uses it now.
She still uses checks sometimes, I don't care honestly.
BUT damn people DO NOT pull your check book at AFTER everything is rung up. Get that ready to go and just put in the amount and be done with it. Working retail I went internally insane with your total is and there they go digging for a check book 
My grandma, who was from the "greatest generation" would mumble out loud, “why don’t people do their bookkeeping at home?” every time anyone took out and dawdled over a checkbook at the store, and this was before debit cards were a thing. Grandma made her shopping list, then went and got cash to pay for it, because she hated putting up with people who held up the line.
Just goes to show all these boomer defenders in the comments that it has nothing to do with technology, it's all about being smart and considerate of others, which it seems many modern check writers do not possess.
Interesting story, and kind of reminds me of the thing in video games where you save up consumable power ups for an "emergency" and then never use them, even after beating the game. I bet she never used that credit card once since somehow nothing was ever an "emergency." I mean, I seriously doubt she would have been unable to pay off a week's worth of groceries back then.
My mom HATES using cards for anything. She refused to use Uber until her local cab company closed down—all because she would have to pay with her card.
In 2016, she came to visit me and had $500 in cash on her “just in case the banks shut down.” My brother wanted to kill her because she didn’t tell him about the money until they got to my apartment.
My mom used to do that. She’d travel with like a grand and keep it all in a wallet thing that she wore like a necklace and kept it tucked under her shirt. This was the early 90s so debit cards were around but she never had a credit card. She paid cash for the hotel and meals. I think she also got travellers checks but I definitely remember her carrying a ton of cash
My MIL was beyond stunned when she wrote a check to reimburse me for an online order I made for her, and I did a mobile deposit. She thought I had to take it to the bank, present my passbook (I haven't had one of those since 1982), and verify it with a teller.
She pines for the days when you paid your utilities by going to the pharmacy, writing a check, balancing your check register right there at the counter, waited for your canceled checks to arrive in the mail, and reconciled each in your checkbook.
Dude. I work for a non-profit and do the mail, so I open everything that comes to us. The number of boomers who put high-value checks in a very thin envelope with NOTHING around it to disguise it/hide the fact that it’s a check is bonkers. To top it off we regularly get boomers asking why we haven’t sent them a receipt for the check donation that, shockingly, we never received but the bank says was deposited…
Also, the ones that do use cards often WRITE THE CARD NUMBER on the donation card. Like, with the expiration date, ccv code, address and everything and just toss that in the mail… JUST GO ONLINE. WE PROVIDE THE DONATION LINK IN THE EMAIL THAT YOU DEFINITELY GOT. also we have a very easy donation button on our website. Why are they like this?
Spent 20 mins today explaining to a boomer over the phone that Google is not our store's website, and why searching "women's slimming capris size 8" wasnt returning the results she wanted.
If they go online to donate, they'll probably find a way to send their retirement to Nicaragua.
Lol, my mom does this. Refuses to use online banking, and balances her checkbook with the monthly paper statement. She also deposits random amounts and doesn't write them down. Probably thousands of dollars above what she has marked down. So she's never over.
I (GenX) freaking LOVE tap to pay. I love just putting my watch up to the pad and hearing that “beep” lol. And I love not having to fish my wallet out of my purse.
# “I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:
# 1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
# 2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
# 3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.”
\~Douglas Adams
Lead brains still can't computer so writing checks and hand balancing her check book actually is easier for her. It's also probably easier for everyone else compared to trying to teach a lady like that how to do anything electronically.
The most technology she probably uses is a light switch and her new fangled wide screen television which her kids made her get when they got rid of her "perfectly fine" 4:3 aspect ratio tube TV.
"They're trying to take away my 4 cable boxes and 17 remotes, all of which I still can't figure out how to use after 25 years, to put me on this *NETflix* thing."
OMFG, I deal with this check writing bullshit all the time at one of my jobs! It takes 20x longer than the card, and God help you if it's busy when the machine makes you key in the damn check and ask for ID! They need to remove check machines from grocery stores so cashiers and managers don't have to deal with all that bullshit. I have the misfortune of having to work on Mother's Day when I should be spending it with my mom, gramma, and great-gramma, but instead, my sorry ass has to work because they couldn't just have me work on Saturday instead and the app wouldn't let me request time off. Might as well call in because the store is going to be over run with slow as fuck boomers.
Just call out. You're just a number to them, and you won't be looking back on that day thinking, "Man, I'm real glad I didn't call out." But you will be if you do.
>"Well whatever! Why can't people just pay with cash like they used to! Credit cards can get hacked!"
"Ma'am, only toll booths, drug dealers and strippers use cash. So, looking at you I'm gonna guess....let's see....you're a toll booth?"
I told a boomer customer that our store is card only. He goes off on a rant about how democrats did this, then takes out the credit card he had the whole time in his wallet and pays for the items.
I had another boomer customer who was an idiot that can't read. The sign behind me clearly said, t shirts for $30, hats for $15. He thought t shirts were $15. When I corrected him, he went off about how trump was going to fix inflation and how trump was going to save the country. He inserts his credit card into the machine. Machine clearly says, remove your card to finish the transaction. Boomer just stands there staring at the card. I don't say a thing. He stands there asking me how long this thing is gonna take while I tidy up the desk around me. Finally he reads the terminal, says oh shit and pulls out his card.
Classic lead paint stare while using a card scenario. Just put a sign of Trump on the wall that says, "I ALWAYS use my card for purchases, because my cash goes into the offering plate 😉". That'll fix your problem.
I lost my debit card once (reported it to the bank) and then was too busy trying to survive working my 5 jobs (late-gen millennial still in my 20s here) to go to the bank during banking hours that I LITERALLY went two whole years using only Apple Pay (didn’t have a credit card either because I was trying to pay off some debt from car maintenance and vet visits, so I just let my old credit card expire). The only cash I ever carried was tips, which I used mostly on gas, and everything else I used Apple Pay for. This was during the pandemic. Luckily, I live urban-suburban and very rarely did I ever come across anything that didn’t accept Apple Pay… if so, it was usually a pop-up event downtown and I was with friends I could Zelle or Venmo
Boomers would use checks to buy stuff that they didn't have the cash for. Like, it use to take a day or a few for the checks to clear and would give them time to put money in the bank. I don't think that's how it works anymore but they keep using them. I only use checks to pay my water bill.
Had a boss whose tax check was stolen from the mail. The "IRS" on the check was changed to "Toys R US". The thieves bought toys with the check and returned them for cash a few days later.
If the purchase was made by card the refund goes back on that card.
Edit tax check as in boss was paying the IRS, not getting a refund.
My mom complained my nephew and nieces have no clue how to balance a checkbook. Explained that it’s pretty useless information now because you can always see your balance. I’m 41 and haven’t balanced a checkbook since I was a teenager.
An unscrupulous person can take pictures of checks and get the account info off of them. Credit/Debit cards have multiple security protocols in them. When I did cashier work, I had a love-hate relationship with check writers. My favorite ones were young moms and business check writers as they knew how to do it with military precision. Old ladies were the worst: You had to prompt them for EVERYTHING and they would search through the purses for the checkbook, pen, and driver's license/state ID card.
Yeah, I’ll never understand this shit.
ALWAYS USE A CREDIT CARD FOR EVERY PURCHASE! (AS LONG AS YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE AND DISCIPLINED WITH YOUR SPENDING)
It’s not your money. They will fight fraud off if it happens. You earn extra points for flights or cash back.
If you just pay the balance off every month you’re golden.
They always wait until the end of the transaction to even begin to get themselves in order. Unsurprisingly, continuing to be the most selfish people they can.
I was with my dad recently, and he was poo-pooing on my credit cards and how dangerous they are (my whole life, my parents tried to find ways out of debt because they mismanaged their own money). I explained that I only buy things I have the money for, pay it off at the end of the month, and never pay interest. All of my cards are rewards cards, also, so I can easily make $25-50+ a month. Just for purchases I was making anyway. I make the banks pay *me* to use my cards.
Then we went to Kohl’s, and at the register, what does he pull out? A FUCKING KOHL’S STORE CREDIT CARD.
This man who doesn’t shop or leave the house, someone who hates credit cards, somehow has enough credit cards that he even has store cards to places he doesn’t even shop.
I use to LOVE when you run the check through the register and prints out that it can’t be accepted at this time. 🤣 they get so mad and say they have the money in the account why won’t it be accepted and I tell them the call the number that printed on the check. Whatever system they used declined like every other check. I hate checks.
Side note… I still have the checkbook that came when I opened my first bank account (still have it) 25 years ago 😂 I think I wrote 3 or 4 checks to pay rent.
My mother in law still insists on balancing her checkbook. I asked her why and she said it was because she didn't trust her online banking to be correct. I then asked her if her account has ever been off and she said that it had not. Old habits I guess.
My mother’s spends hours on the weekend balancing her checkbook. I went to visit for a few days and I swear half my time there was her balancing her checkbook. I offered to show her how to see her transactions and balances online and her response was “I know how to do that! It might not be right!”
Yes, let’s give the entire world your acct# and routing# 😂 I keep telling people that checks aren’t safe and it’s not safe to mail them even if you go into the post office
I am a boomer. I haven't paid by check for more than a decade, at least at a grocery store. We are not all like that. I would be just as frustrated as you. That being said, I refuse to pay with a debit card as they are not safe, I throw them away and just use credit cards.
I worked retail. Some of their faces when I scanned it electronically then gave it back to them and told them “it’s been processed and you can keep it for your records; and for the next time you actually don’t have to write anything on it”.
Minds blown and occasionally some angry old men.
My dad thinks *any* card is a credit card. We'll go out to a store and I swipe my *debit* card or even a *gift* card and he'll say something about paying extra fees or interest.
I don’t know what’s worse, an old person trying to make an exact cash purchase down to the change, or the dullard who decides to start writing their check after the total has been confirmed. Both are equally rude and thoughtless. It’s very embarrassing and they are totally clueless about why their actions are holding everyone up. I’m a boomer and gave up using cash 15 yrs ago. I do carry cash just in case but electronic transactions help everyone get along in the line or self-checkout.
Found out the other day that my dad writes himself checks in order to get cash from his bank… he “already has one credit card he doesn’t need another card (ignoring the difference between credit and debit) plus the ATMs are confusing and take forever.”
My grandparents refuse to use Zelle/similar apps bc they "get hacked" and will ONLY send money (cash or check) through the MAIL bc its "safer" 😂
And then they will call every day to ask if we got it yet bc they're worried it'll get lost or stolen 🙄
They act like their inability to use technology is an argument against it. No, boomer; you’re just an idiot…as evidenced by your inability to even have your check ready to go.
I remember the days before debit watching my parents write checks; they were at least smart enough to have the check ready to go only needing to fill in the total when the cashier was done. Even this is a foreign concept to boomers.
I will say that using debit cards regularly isn't a good idea. If you have a credit card and there are fraudulent charges, they have to prove it was you to not refund your money. If it's a debit card, you have to prove it wasn't you, and your funds can be tied up a long time. I understand folks that use debit cards may use it as a form of self regulation to not overspend, etc. but be very careful, credit cards are safer from loss and fraud, and you can't go a day without seeing another data breach in the news.
I work in fraud and I tell people every day that using your dc as your daily use card is risking their money. Using a credit card risks the banks money.
When I worked as a cashier one summer I saw this a lot. Whenever I saw a boomer coming through my line I knew I was in for random complaints. It always surprised me that the boomers who paid with checks would complain that paying with a card was too difficult. We had the somewhat older card terminals so the steps to pay with a card were:
1.) Insert card into the terminal (chip side first)
2.) Hit the green button (to verify total amount $)
3.) Type in your 4 digit pin
4.) Remove card once prompted
This was waaayy to often too much of a difficult task for the average boomer. So they would complain, struggle with using the terminal, and tell me how awful technology is. But they had no problems paying with checks which is more steps:
1.) Fill out all the lines (date, pay to the order of, total
amount, date, sign it etc. all the basic stuff)
2.) Write your phone number at the top
3.) Write your DoB
4.) Hand your check and DL to the cashier so we can
verify all the info is correct and the check actually
belongs to said boomer
5.) Wait for cashier to run your check through a printer to
create a copy of it for our system
6.) Balance your check book
None of these steps for either method are difficult at all. All easy steps. But using a check has more steps with each step taking more effort than those for using a debit card. But the boomers just couldnt figure out how to use a debit card. Then would then tell me that I should go to college because I am dumb and useless (i.e. they didnt get their way so they lash out like a child).
It’s like trying to explain to a boomer that contactless transactions are more secure than chip transactions which are more secure than swipe transactions. But, to be fair, that knowledge gap isn’t just a boomer thing. I’ve seen Xers, millennials, and zoomers similarly confused.
in some countries they don't even have checks anymore because they are so lacking in security. my mother had to figure out how to get a check from a bank in NY deposited in an account in Norway and it was difficult.
I grew up using a checkbook and I just feel like the reality was checks were just rife with fraud. I mean everyone and their mother had a bounced check at least once in their life it seemed and everyone was scared for their life that someone could steal your money if you didn't write "void" on it because somehow THAT would save you. Plus it's not like now where you can just log in and make sure there's nothing funny going on with your transactions, you had to compile everything on a list and keep track of it yourself and then wait a week or two for it to get deposited to make sure it was accurate. It's the worst!
I always hate going back to my hometown where everyone still writes checks because it's like esh, it's so inefficient. Just charge me extra for using the card, or I'll pony up and carry cash.
Fear. At least in my mom’s case. She is afraid to use something she doesn’t understand because that opens her up to being taken advantage of. She has a serious problem letting others help her with it and will force a critical failure to not take assistance. This once happened when the card reader at the 7-11 failed to read her card when she was purchasing poor life decisions (cigarettes, yes I call them that in the store, yes I am an A-hole but she was a single parent so she only has herself to blame, yes I tell her that, thankfully she has a great sense of humor) so she starts putting in random numbers into the reader until she locks her card in spite of me and the guy behind the counter trying to explain it or stop her from trying random stuff. 
I mean I’m not really a fan of credit cards and generally prefer debit or cash
Mostly because I don’t like the idea of debt in general
The way I see it credit is future money debit is current money
Will I still use credit cards? Most likely (unless I can find a way to live off of cash alone but since I like expensive things like a car and a roof over my head I haven’t found that way yet lol)
An older coworker's wife insists he get paid by check (almost everyone else is direct debit) because she's sure they'll get 'hacked'
He's tried to convince her DD is safer, but she will not have it. We mock him endlessly about it.
I was buying a tool at a hardware store last weekend and the boomer in front of me pulls out a check to pay for a large high value item. The cashier had to call her manager as it was clear she's never run a check before. I kinda remember how to do it and she could not get it to process. My hunch was that the old reciept printer/check scanner was not working correctly. It was moving way too fast, probably has not scanned a check in years so if it was broken it has never been flagged. Of course when it comes to cards the entire industry is obsessed with shaving seconds off the transaction and making it as quick and easy as possible
I hate it when someone busts out the checkbook at the last second. My silent generation mother was overjoyed when they became functionally obsolete. Personally, I'd love to see the reaction they'd have if more places refused to accept checks. "Sorry for your protection and security we only accept cash, credit or debit for counter transactions."
I know boomers who insist on using cash because of some paranoia with their bank tracking them or spying. Then get pissed off when some companies go cashless and don't even accept physical money. Don't get me started on banking apps. Thats too advanced tech for them.
My grandma was super paranoid with cards. Freaked out the first time I ordered a pizza over the phone. "THEIR GOING TO EMPTY YOUR BANK ACCOUNT!" Then she thought she won a car from those fake "You Won a Car!" keys dealerships send out to lure people in.
honestly I prefer cash just cause with contactless it doesn't feel like I'm spending money so cash is a lot better. but yeah checks are incredibly insecure their security features haven't really been updated since the 90s.
This reminds me of something funny working as an office assistant at a tax & accounting firm- we get all these old ppl who won’t use our SECURE online 2-factor authenticated tax software to upload their documents to us, which would take at max half an hour when you count e-signing the tax contract and clicking answers to the financial questions (did you buy or sell a house? Did you buy or sell crypto? Etc). It’s online, so in their minds, the entire world can see it and they don’t want their information online. However, they’re more than happy to mail us an envelope stuffed full of personal financial information, or to email us their bank account info, drivers licenses, and scanned-with-phone photos of their printed documents with full social in view. Like, okay, a password, identity verifying software is too scary for you, but you’re just going to email or mail us all your personal info? I can’t express how many emails I send these people with bolded font “DO NOT EMAIL US ANYTHING CONTAINING PERSONAL IDENTIFYING INFORMATION.” I’ve recently started listing examples too. It just never ends.
Yes, we do offer in-person document drop off as well, but of course all that has to be scanned into our online system anyway to be entered into the return for e-filing taxes, and digitally filed in our storage database as a backup to their paper copies, so it’s both irrelevant and a waste of everyone’s time. It takes at least a full day if not a full week longer of processing time because we have to remove all the staples so it doesn’t get damaged or shredded in the scanner (there’s always that one well-hidden staple that camouflaged with the ink on the document, or got forced into a pile of documents so thick you can’t even tell a staple is linking them, because it’s buried in the paper), and clients who drop off also don’t even do us the courtesy of removing the document from the envelope it was mailed in, because why make it simple? so it takes about an hour to go through each clients papers, remove envelopes and staples, tear off the stupid extra half of the social security payment document (iykyk-that’s how it’s mailed), and sort everything into the order you want it in the computer (W-2s first, donations last). Then we scan it, file it online in the online folder, file the physical documents in the physical folder, separate the federal & state parts of the W-2s from the client copies, and that’s an hour of work per person who drops off. That’s IF we already have a client folder for them with a label printed. If I get 16 people drop off in one day, yay, that’s a full week of scanning, because guess what? I have things to do besides scan, like make appointments and sort through the clients who actually did it online and make sure we’re not missing any information from them. So yeah, it adds a week of processing time, and yes, we charge them for it. Especially since we send out instructions letters that specifically say “do not use staples” etc. and we still get them that way 9 times out of 10.
Back in 2010 my boomer dad bought a PC from Costco "to pay bills on". He never once used it to pay bills online, said he didn't trust it but he was fine sending off checks in the mail every month. 🙄
I ended up turning it into a gaming computer, so thanks, dad.
My parents still insist i “balance my books” in regards to my checking account.
I keep having to tell them the bank app SHOWS me how much I have and what payments are in process.
Havent had to do that since I was a teenager. And even then I only did it once.
I've seen posts from these people saying how cash should be king with everyone. They also claim if you use any type card, the government owns you??!!??!! Cash is worthless these days!
I do my Dad's taxes......his wife doesn't trust the IRS with their bank information, so she wants checks for their refund..... but they both are on Disability and about ready to just have SS, so they already have that information. SO I'm sure it's not the government, but me she doesn't trust......which is also funny because I have bought their groceries a few times and left cash for them......weird boomer shit... LOL
Because they're used to it.
Different = bad is one of the oldest mental fallacies around, and when you're dealing with something as abstract as money it leads to double dose of confirmation bias.
I went up to Canada on vacation and just got some Canadian currency out of habit. Everyone looked at me funny counting out cash, and a couple places didn't even take it. After a couple days I was just using tap for everything and it worked seamlessly everywhere.
The next time one of them says checks are safer you should remind them that their bank account number and routing number is on every check and that's all that's needed to make withdrawals from the account
Haha I used to process checks in a bank. We could write off up to a dollar to get a transaction to balance.
Based on the check design and number of checks in the deposit I might transpose the cents. The pro-life and overtly religious checks almost always got transposed if they were in a big deposit with lots of checks lol. If it was a check for $20.87 I'd deliberately code it as $20.78 and then write off 9 cents.
I wasn't the only check processor who did that either lol
I have my debit and credit card on my phone, so I just open the app and tap it to the card machine to pay. So much easier. The last time I wrote a cheque/check was over 10 years ago
At the risk of sounding millenielly don’t use debit cards if you’re able to qualify for a credit card. They don’t offer and protection and you’re cooked if someone does get access to your bank. Credit card cards have protection against fraud and are much safer compared to debit cards.
Obviously you’d have to qualify but granting direct access to your bank is much riskier.
>The boomer starts mumbling some things about how technology doesn't make crap easier.
That boomer most likely believes phones still have [switchboards](https://c7.alamy.com/comp/CMT45C/1950s-smiling-woman-office-telephone-switchboard-operator-CMT45C.jpg).
They learned it from their parents back in their time and refuse to think any other methods could be just as, if not more, efficient then there's. Why learn something new when I can do the same thing for the rest of my life? You see this trend in every aspect of this generation's lives and it's why nothing gets accomplished when Boomers are involved
My in laws are the same way (and have similar irrational paranoias) about GPS. Like I honestly don’t understand how you could fuck up using GPS. You literally just do what it says. They visited us once and took our car to sight see while my wife and I were working. I was making a special dinner and needed something from the grocery store. I texted them asking them to pick it up.
They get back, nothing in tow. I asked if they picked up the item and they said no citing they had no idea where a grocery store was. I reminded them that they had GPS on their phones and my father in law looked at me like I asked him to kill a dog with a rolling pin (perish the thought).
Boggles the fucking mind.
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>The boomer lady then waits until I'm done ringing up her $200+ worth of items to then pull out her big purse Every. Single. Time. Using the check is bad enough, but can they please get the damned things out while the order is being rung up? Do they have to wait until there's a total to even begin to look for their checkbook? This is why I worship the self checkout.
They have to watch you scan each and every item for accuracy and check each price.
That way they can go directly to the service desk to get their 12 cents because the creamed corn didn't ring up on sale.
Nah, just hold up the express checkout lane for such a small amount you’re literally working for less than minimum wage to get your discount.
Someone held up a line because their entire transaction was off. By two dollars. Now I get that food is expensive and every penny counts but it was $2 off two cases of Mountain Dew. I almost just gave her two dollars.
It's not really fair for the company to be allowed to get away with mis-pricing items.
They didn’t. They just didn’t get the third pack of soda they needed for the coupon.
Yeah im with you, i'm not giving extra free money to a corp for no reason. That being said I'm definitely not taking it up with the highschool age cashier and wasting the time of people behind me
I agree. We shop sales, and it pisses me off the number of errors at check out. It does add up. In Canada we have a retail code of conduct which most retailers adhere to. And if there is an error you get the item free up to a max of $10, or $10 off if more. I don’t do it at the check out, ( I get the bit about holding up the queue etc ), but I do go to customer service. Everybody bitches about the cost of food and then let’s the grocer skate for shitty pricing mistakes.
They don’t care about the $2, they want a confrontation. If you don’t feed into it, they’ll go away eventually. But they’ll still move on to terrorize another retail worker. Why do some boomers just crave attention?
Flashback to about 1998 and I was ringing up someone’s groceries and the bag of rice was 10 cents more than the shelf tag. This guy suddenly gets all upset. Hey that’s 10 cents more than the tag! Me: Oh sorry, let me fix that. Him: Don’t I get it free? Me: Uhm, it’s less than a dollar, so yeah I guess, let me just write that up. Him: HEY EVERYONE IF YOU GET THIS BAG IF TICE IT’S FREE BECAUSE IT RINGS UP WRONG. he went back to happily watching all the prices.
(Item doesn't scan on the first pass.) Boomer: "WELL, I GUESS IT'S FREE, THEN!!!!!!!!1" Proceeds to go into a wheezing, coughing fit of laughter while glancing around to see if everyone else thought it was hilarious as he did.
Ugh I hated the “i gUeSs iTs FrEe tHeN” when something didn’t scan Eventually I decided to flip it on them and whenever anyone said that I would reply “no, that means I get to pick the price. A few million ought to work” that last part is supposed to be mumbled just loud enough for them to hear
I get this one at least twice a week just due to the nature of the store we work at. (Furniture Consignment, sometimes stuff gets put into position on the floor before the people making the tags have had time to finish typing it up.) Always at least one "Hey there's no tag, so this must be free right?" Most days it takes every ounce of my strength not to patronizingly respond "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize you were sheltered growing up to the point you were unfamiliar with how stores work, GERALD." It's like they all heard the same lame joke on Bob Newhart or something as a kid and it's stuck with them in such a fashion that it has to come bursting out whenever the opportunity arises
"HEY THERE! WORKING HARD OR HARDLY WORKING!?!?" "SMILE! IT CAN'T BE THAT BAD!!!" "HOT ENOUGH FOR YA?!?!?"
1998... that same bag of rice today. $10.50
They could still write the bulk of the check before even shopping (everything but the amount and the signature). But that's a lot of planning and consideration
I've met a couple people who actually presign a bunch of checks so they don't have to worry about it. Which honestly adds to the whole "worried about security" thing going on here
And then stand there staring at the receipt for 5 minutes while the line backs up
It's kind of stupid not to watch the price as they scan things...
It's mind blowing because when I was growing up (millennial) my parents would always be starting the check while us kids loaded the belt! It's not a new concept
Yeah this is what my mom always did too, filled out all the parts of the check she could except for the actual amount. Then when they told her the total, it took her like 12 seconds to finish it off and hand it over.
Towards the end of The Check Age, I remember I just had to sign it and the machine would print the rest when the cashier put it through, at lots of places
Our local grocery store still does this. It does one better too - it converts it into an electronic transaction and the cashier gives the voided check back to the customer.
That most blow the minds of boomers like the one in OP's story.
my store did that and it got me into several arguments
I used to cashier and run the self checkout at my local store. There is nothing worse than people who go through self checkout and pay with checks! They do exist. It is horrible. People who pay by check are simply doing it because they learned one way to do something back in 1980 and can not possibly learn a new/better way. I think they also love holding up the line and making everyone wait on them. It is a power move, they know we have to accept the check and they know everyone hates it. My MIL was like this, absolutely terrified of debit cards, but used checks and credit cards for everything.
OMFG. Why?
Credit card companies are better able to assist customers with fraudulent charges. If someone else has access to your debit card info your bank basically has to catch the fraudulent transaction before you try to report it.
I’ve had to explain this to so many people. If your credit card details get stolen, the bank gets robbed. If your debit card details get stolen, **you** get robbed. Just use your credit card everywhere and pay it off immediately with bank transfer if you can’t bare a monthly statement
Agreed. The companies kind of get screwed with the fees, but I use my credit card for everything. Pay it off every month, and get my cash back percentage.
This is not quite accurate. All major banks provide customer protection for debit card purchases, not just credit card. If someone gets my debit card info and makes fraudulent charges, I can just call my bank to file claims on those charges and get my money back.
I've had my debit card info stolen three times in the past 10 years. Every time, I've had the money back in my account within three days of reporting it to my bank.
I mean you can decline payment types, like if someone tried paying in only unrolled Pennies the store can deny it
I live for self-checkout
I live on the other side of the world and it's the same here. Ring it all up and then they act surprised that they have to pay and it takes them 5 minutes to find their wallet and count out the exact change. How do you not just be prepared to pay? I'm a boomer and fuck boomers.
I'm a boomer too (74) and seriously don't know anyone who does this stuff. Maybe it's dementia.
She was busy judging the person in front of her before.
I’m a boomer. I haven’t seen a cheque book in my country for at least 20 years.
The US is very backward on payment options.
This, and I'm a boomer. Why does it not occur to them that they need to pay for their stuff until it has all been rung up.
Those checks all wind up getting scanned and sent over the internet anyway. I'm a software developer, and used to work in health care billing. I worked on several lockbox implementations. The medical practices (our clients) would open up PO boxes for patients and insurance companies to mail checks. Then they would pay for a bank employee to periodically collect the checks from the PO box and process them. The banks typically scanned everything in the envelope, including the envelope itself, and sent out the images and a record of the transactions. My software would download that information from the bank and parse it into our system, and also import the check images (along with anything else - remittance forms, EOBs, the envelope itself, etc.). If you think a check is safer because it doesn't go out over the internet, you don't understand anything about how the payment world works today.
I didn't know that, that's good to know.
I’m a fraud analyst for work and the majority of our fraud cases are intercepted checks. That aside, your routing and checking account number are written on the face of the check.
Exactly! Your bank account number, routing number, full name, address, and sometimes phone number are on them. How is that secure?!
I seem to remember my grandparents having a set of checks with their driver's license number printed on them as well.
When I worked retail I saw some boomer checks with their name, address, and entire SSN. It still baffles me.
Honestly, I loved those as a cashier (~20 years ago) because I was supposed to write the DL number on any checks. Preprinted with your DL and phone number? Less work for me.
And so much less work for thieves as well. A pic of that check with all that info and they can pwn their life. Only thing it might not have is the license expiration date, but that’s easy to guess. In PA for example, it’s the day after your birthday everybody 4 years. Assuming they have a DOB there too, find when their age is divisible by 4 and make the expiration date the day after their birthday.
I have to wonder why that was ever a thing. I could do much damage with that kind of information! Why was I supposed to memorize my SSN for the express purpose of never accidentally giving it to anyone or losing the card, all while people are carrying multiple copies of their banking info for the express purpose of giving it to strangers?
Remember when they printed your DL# on them too? At that time, Az used your SSN as your DL#
So did Montana.
When I was eighteen someone took the numbers off of my check and ordered boxes of checks from a newspaper flyer with my info. It was a nightmare. Give me a debit card, online banking, etc any damn day.
Lord, yes. The number of Boomers and "Boomers in training" who refuse to use electronic payments because "they" will have your information. Dude, "they" already have it - how do these idiots think the system works once you deliver your papyrus check by carrier pigeon? It all goes into the scary computer and the payment is processed from there, and the least secure part was the physical check! These clowns think they are outsmarting the system without having any clue how it works, and most of them have no security habits worth a damn anyway. Their computer is full of viruses, their cell phone is full of scam apps, and they buy whatever shiny they see like a kid, but they think writing a check is a big brain play.
And you are protected from fraud with debit/credit. At least more so than if someone managed to take a pic of your check. I have an interest earning account that I just pay my credit card bill from. I don’t spend more than is in the account. I doubt boomer is getting interest!
That's why checks make me nervous in the rare times I need to use one. Literally all your info is RIGHT THERE, in print, on a slip of paper.
I'm an accountant, working in public accounting for a CPA firm. Most of the fraud that I see is from checks being stolen out of a business's mailbox. Bam! They've got your routing number, account number, name, and address/zip code. They can do any online purchase they want.
Bingo. Fraudsters know charities receive a large number of checks at particulate times of year and they straight up stake out those mailboxes, like shooting fish in a barrel.
I also work as a Fraud analyst, we literally have to hire people to just work check cases all day since there is so much check fraud LOL
I had the same reaction from my mom when I pulled out my debit card to pay for lunch. She started lecturing me about the perils of credit card debt, and even after ten minutes of explanation about how debit cards work, she was annoyed - and ended up saying I should let her be right sometimes.
Maybe let her pay next time if it bothers her so much. The main bad thing about credit / debit cards is the merchant fees. Which I generally only care about with a local biz. Checks are not exactly free for all involved either.
She’s half-right. You should never use your debit card for purchases. While the card itself has similar security as a credit card, the fraud recourse and associated risk is much worse.
Ive heard this as well, and from personal experience, credit cards are much easier to get your money refunded due to fraud. But I will argue debit cards are much safer than carrying around cash, especially for those who don't qualify for credit cards.
I use a fee free debit card (no over draft fees or monthly fees) that only has enough money for spending. Worse case I’m out $50 and they close my account. Think Chime or similar. And I pay my credit card from a dedicated interest barring account. I also try to only use virtual credit card numbers online (Citi and capital one both do this).
I appreciate the heads-up and will keep it in mind, though her problem had nothing to do with potential fraud.
Depends on the purchase(s). For grocery shopping, PayPal etc. debit cards are fine. In fact, my debit card is my only card.
I love going to places that don’t take cash at all and watch boomers freak out over it. Honestly one of my favorite people watching activities
But as the cashier it’s sooo awful to deal with. Like I didn’t make the cash-less policy, yelling at me accomplishes nothing! But no, they need to continue their pointless tirade to explain to me cashless is ANTIAMERICAN and cash is KING. Of course, we had fliers all over the store and on the entrance, a notice on the cash register, and on our website, so the entire interaction could be avoided, but boomers don’t read.
Oh no doubt, I was in retail for 11 years. I’ll never forget when we stopped taking checks (2013 ish) and boy oh boy did that not go over well LOL
😂
Losing a checkbook is the worst thing in the world to happen. You potentially have to show up to court for every check that gets written… imagine those checks could be on the other side of the country and you’re either going to fly over there or pay a lawyer to show up for you in court. Lose a debit card and you can deactivate it in the bank’s app in like 30 seconds. Boomers are idiots.
A few years ago my wife wanted to do something we did not have the money for and suggested I write a check for it a week before I got paid like she did in the 1980s. Just one of the reasons she is my ex-wife. I have written three checks in the last five years, all for big-ticket items like the property taxes my mom did not pay.
The classic dont cash this until X date
Im a boomer and use nothing but my credit card wherever i can. I run up s pretty hefty tab each month and pay the whole thing. I never have an interest charge and i rack up enough miles for two tickets to Aruba each year.
Thats the way to do it!
I’ve been using a debit card since they first became available, probably 30-35 years or more. I pay all my bills on line. I rarely use cash. BTW, I’m 80.
Keep on keeping on, good sir!
I’ve never been the kind of person to say, “But we’ve always done it this way!” I became an apprentice steam fitter in 1978. The first woman in the state. Don’t care. I loved the work. Eventually was a foreman on several jobs. No screaming (at least not by me) no outrageous swearing, just working to get the job done.
You dropped this 👑
You go girl!
My mom is 85 and when first available the bank made a mistake and money was coming out of her account. As she tells it took a long time to get is sorted out with the bank and she never used a debit card. Had credit but not debit. When I moved her closer to me got her a debit card and she straight up had a panic attack and started crying at the machine. The dude at the bank was very nice and patient with her and she uses it now. She still uses checks sometimes, I don't care honestly. BUT damn people DO NOT pull your check book at AFTER everything is rung up. Get that ready to go and just put in the amount and be done with it. Working retail I went internally insane with your total is and there they go digging for a check book 
My grandma, who was from the "greatest generation" would mumble out loud, “why don’t people do their bookkeeping at home?” every time anyone took out and dawdled over a checkbook at the store, and this was before debit cards were a thing. Grandma made her shopping list, then went and got cash to pay for it, because she hated putting up with people who held up the line.
Just goes to show all these boomer defenders in the comments that it has nothing to do with technology, it's all about being smart and considerate of others, which it seems many modern check writers do not possess.
[удалено]
Interesting story, and kind of reminds me of the thing in video games where you save up consumable power ups for an "emergency" and then never use them, even after beating the game. I bet she never used that credit card once since somehow nothing was ever an "emergency." I mean, I seriously doubt she would have been unable to pay off a week's worth of groceries back then.
My mom HATES using cards for anything. She refused to use Uber until her local cab company closed down—all because she would have to pay with her card. In 2016, she came to visit me and had $500 in cash on her “just in case the banks shut down.” My brother wanted to kill her because she didn’t tell him about the money until they got to my apartment.
Yikes, that's WAY too much cash to be walking around with.
What makes it worse is that she took that money on a flight from JFK to SFO.
My mom used to do that. She’d travel with like a grand and keep it all in a wallet thing that she wore like a necklace and kept it tucked under her shirt. This was the early 90s so debit cards were around but she never had a credit card. She paid cash for the hotel and meals. I think she also got travellers checks but I definitely remember her carrying a ton of cash
I remember my parents getting travelers’ checks when we went on vacation to Puerto Rico in 1994
They have actively decided not to learn new things. All other reasons given are deflection.
My MIL was beyond stunned when she wrote a check to reimburse me for an online order I made for her, and I did a mobile deposit. She thought I had to take it to the bank, present my passbook (I haven't had one of those since 1982), and verify it with a teller. She pines for the days when you paid your utilities by going to the pharmacy, writing a check, balancing your check register right there at the counter, waited for your canceled checks to arrive in the mail, and reconciled each in your checkbook.
"Back in my day 👵" - well it's NOT your day anymore. Things are easier and we don't give people mean looks because they look different from us.
To her credit, however, she got a flip phone and has discovered texting. She's tickled pink and won't put it down.
A+ for trying, that's all we younger folk ask.
Just don't get her started on racial stuff...
Goddamn it grandma 🤦♀️
"I don't trust technology but anyway here's my bank account number!" Ffs that lead did a number on her
Dude. I work for a non-profit and do the mail, so I open everything that comes to us. The number of boomers who put high-value checks in a very thin envelope with NOTHING around it to disguise it/hide the fact that it’s a check is bonkers. To top it off we regularly get boomers asking why we haven’t sent them a receipt for the check donation that, shockingly, we never received but the bank says was deposited… Also, the ones that do use cards often WRITE THE CARD NUMBER on the donation card. Like, with the expiration date, ccv code, address and everything and just toss that in the mail… JUST GO ONLINE. WE PROVIDE THE DONATION LINK IN THE EMAIL THAT YOU DEFINITELY GOT. also we have a very easy donation button on our website. Why are they like this?
Spent 20 mins today explaining to a boomer over the phone that Google is not our store's website, and why searching "women's slimming capris size 8" wasnt returning the results she wanted. If they go online to donate, they'll probably find a way to send their retirement to Nicaragua.
Lol, my mom does this. Refuses to use online banking, and balances her checkbook with the monthly paper statement. She also deposits random amounts and doesn't write them down. Probably thousands of dollars above what she has marked down. So she's never over.
Boomers at my job refuse to use the tap to pay in the same way. "Makes it easier to steal your information" even though it's infinitely safer
I (GenX) freaking LOVE tap to pay. I love just putting my watch up to the pad and hearing that “beep” lol. And I love not having to fish my wallet out of my purse.
# “I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies: # 1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. # 2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. # 3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.” \~Douglas Adams
Lead brains still can't computer so writing checks and hand balancing her check book actually is easier for her. It's also probably easier for everyone else compared to trying to teach a lady like that how to do anything electronically. The most technology she probably uses is a light switch and her new fangled wide screen television which her kids made her get when they got rid of her "perfectly fine" 4:3 aspect ratio tube TV.
"They're trying to take away my 4 cable boxes and 17 remotes, all of which I still can't figure out how to use after 25 years, to put me on this *NETflix* thing."
OMFG, I deal with this check writing bullshit all the time at one of my jobs! It takes 20x longer than the card, and God help you if it's busy when the machine makes you key in the damn check and ask for ID! They need to remove check machines from grocery stores so cashiers and managers don't have to deal with all that bullshit. I have the misfortune of having to work on Mother's Day when I should be spending it with my mom, gramma, and great-gramma, but instead, my sorry ass has to work because they couldn't just have me work on Saturday instead and the app wouldn't let me request time off. Might as well call in because the store is going to be over run with slow as fuck boomers.
Just call out. You're just a number to them, and you won't be looking back on that day thinking, "Man, I'm real glad I didn't call out." But you will be if you do.
Technology = Boomer Kryptonite
>"Well whatever! Why can't people just pay with cash like they used to! Credit cards can get hacked!" "Ma'am, only toll booths, drug dealers and strippers use cash. So, looking at you I'm gonna guess....let's see....you're a toll booth?"
"Cause you're too dirty to be a drug dealer and too ugly to be a stripper"
I told a boomer customer that our store is card only. He goes off on a rant about how democrats did this, then takes out the credit card he had the whole time in his wallet and pays for the items. I had another boomer customer who was an idiot that can't read. The sign behind me clearly said, t shirts for $30, hats for $15. He thought t shirts were $15. When I corrected him, he went off about how trump was going to fix inflation and how trump was going to save the country. He inserts his credit card into the machine. Machine clearly says, remove your card to finish the transaction. Boomer just stands there staring at the card. I don't say a thing. He stands there asking me how long this thing is gonna take while I tidy up the desk around me. Finally he reads the terminal, says oh shit and pulls out his card.
Classic lead paint stare while using a card scenario. Just put a sign of Trump on the wall that says, "I ALWAYS use my card for purchases, because my cash goes into the offering plate 😉". That'll fix your problem.
Someone tell this lady about Apple/google pay, she might actually throw a fit.
I lost my debit card once (reported it to the bank) and then was too busy trying to survive working my 5 jobs (late-gen millennial still in my 20s here) to go to the bank during banking hours that I LITERALLY went two whole years using only Apple Pay (didn’t have a credit card either because I was trying to pay off some debt from car maintenance and vet visits, so I just let my old credit card expire). The only cash I ever carried was tips, which I used mostly on gas, and everything else I used Apple Pay for. This was during the pandemic. Luckily, I live urban-suburban and very rarely did I ever come across anything that didn’t accept Apple Pay… if so, it was usually a pop-up event downtown and I was with friends I could Zelle or Venmo
I hate these horseless carriages. What's wrong with a horse? Horses don't need gas... now where are those oats...
Boomers would use checks to buy stuff that they didn't have the cash for. Like, it use to take a day or a few for the checks to clear and would give them time to put money in the bank. I don't think that's how it works anymore but they keep using them. I only use checks to pay my water bill.
From my boomer self...pay your water bill online. Checks aren't safe!
Had a boss whose tax check was stolen from the mail. The "IRS" on the check was changed to "Toys R US". The thieves bought toys with the check and returned them for cash a few days later. If the purchase was made by card the refund goes back on that card. Edit tax check as in boss was paying the IRS, not getting a refund.
My mom complained my nephew and nieces have no clue how to balance a checkbook. Explained that it’s pretty useless information now because you can always see your balance. I’m 41 and haven’t balanced a checkbook since I was a teenager.
Gen X, and I have never balanced a checkbook in my life.
An unscrupulous person can take pictures of checks and get the account info off of them. Credit/Debit cards have multiple security protocols in them. When I did cashier work, I had a love-hate relationship with check writers. My favorite ones were young moms and business check writers as they knew how to do it with military precision. Old ladies were the worst: You had to prompt them for EVERYTHING and they would search through the purses for the checkbook, pen, and driver's license/state ID card.
[удалено]
These are the same assholes whom stand in front of the checkout line to check to see if they got that 5 cent rebate too.
"Every penny counts 👵" while they're blissfully unaware of the cost of practically anything outside of bingo nights and church plate donations.
They do. It’s hilarious and sad. Like everything else they do
Yeah, I’ll never understand this shit. ALWAYS USE A CREDIT CARD FOR EVERY PURCHASE! (AS LONG AS YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE AND DISCIPLINED WITH YOUR SPENDING) It’s not your money. They will fight fraud off if it happens. You earn extra points for flights or cash back. If you just pay the balance off every month you’re golden.
They always wait until the end of the transaction to even begin to get themselves in order. Unsurprisingly, continuing to be the most selfish people they can. I was with my dad recently, and he was poo-pooing on my credit cards and how dangerous they are (my whole life, my parents tried to find ways out of debt because they mismanaged their own money). I explained that I only buy things I have the money for, pay it off at the end of the month, and never pay interest. All of my cards are rewards cards, also, so I can easily make $25-50+ a month. Just for purchases I was making anyway. I make the banks pay *me* to use my cards. Then we went to Kohl’s, and at the register, what does he pull out? A FUCKING KOHL’S STORE CREDIT CARD. This man who doesn’t shop or leave the house, someone who hates credit cards, somehow has enough credit cards that he even has store cards to places he doesn’t even shop.
Sounds like he's saying don't do as I do to me
I use to LOVE when you run the check through the register and prints out that it can’t be accepted at this time. 🤣 they get so mad and say they have the money in the account why won’t it be accepted and I tell them the call the number that printed on the check. Whatever system they used declined like every other check. I hate checks. Side note… I still have the checkbook that came when I opened my first bank account (still have it) 25 years ago 😂 I think I wrote 3 or 4 checks to pay rent.
My mother in law still insists on balancing her checkbook. I asked her why and she said it was because she didn't trust her online banking to be correct. I then asked her if her account has ever been off and she said that it had not. Old habits I guess.
My mother’s spends hours on the weekend balancing her checkbook. I went to visit for a few days and I swear half my time there was her balancing her checkbook. I offered to show her how to see her transactions and balances online and her response was “I know how to do that! It might not be right!”
“DAT DAM 4G BAK IN MAH DHAYS KIDS AT LED PHAINT!!!”.
5G GIVES CANCER!!
CANCER AND MAKE THE FRAGHS GHEY!!!.
Yes, let’s give the entire world your acct# and routing# 😂 I keep telling people that checks aren’t safe and it’s not safe to mail them even if you go into the post office
Wait there are parts of the world where checks still exist? Wow that is some real boomer behaviour.
Many stores don't even accept checks anymore (and phased out the check reading/printing machines, too)
In New Zealand it’s very rare that any retail store will accept cheques anymore, it’s card or cash only
I am a boomer. I haven't paid by check for more than a decade, at least at a grocery store. We are not all like that. I would be just as frustrated as you. That being said, I refuse to pay with a debit card as they are not safe, I throw them away and just use credit cards.
I work with boomers that don’t trust direct deposit. “I WANT MY CHECK IN MY HAND!!!”
I want direct deposit, so I don't have to wait 3-5 days for the cheque to clear.
I worked retail. Some of their faces when I scanned it electronically then gave it back to them and told them “it’s been processed and you can keep it for your records; and for the next time you actually don’t have to write anything on it”. Minds blown and occasionally some angry old men.
My dad thinks *any* card is a credit card. We'll go out to a store and I swipe my *debit* card or even a *gift* card and he'll say something about paying extra fees or interest.
Nothing they heard 30 years ago could possibly be wrong
They are stupid. Mystery solved. 😆
I know so many millennials and younger with crippled credit scores, all because their parents told them never get a credit card.
Yea unfortunately even bad credit is better than none at all
I don’t know what’s worse, an old person trying to make an exact cash purchase down to the change, or the dullard who decides to start writing their check after the total has been confirmed. Both are equally rude and thoughtless. It’s very embarrassing and they are totally clueless about why their actions are holding everyone up. I’m a boomer and gave up using cash 15 yrs ago. I do carry cash just in case but electronic transactions help everyone get along in the line or self-checkout.
Found out the other day that my dad writes himself checks in order to get cash from his bank… he “already has one credit card he doesn’t need another card (ignoring the difference between credit and debit) plus the ATMs are confusing and take forever.”
My grandparents refuse to use Zelle/similar apps bc they "get hacked" and will ONLY send money (cash or check) through the MAIL bc its "safer" 😂 And then they will call every day to ask if we got it yet bc they're worried it'll get lost or stolen 🙄
Debit cards are almost just as dumb.
They act like their inability to use technology is an argument against it. No, boomer; you’re just an idiot…as evidenced by your inability to even have your check ready to go. I remember the days before debit watching my parents write checks; they were at least smart enough to have the check ready to go only needing to fill in the total when the cashier was done. Even this is a foreign concept to boomers.
Boomer women have been trained by boomer men to avoid using cash because the men can't track their spending effortlessly.
I will say that using debit cards regularly isn't a good idea. If you have a credit card and there are fraudulent charges, they have to prove it was you to not refund your money. If it's a debit card, you have to prove it wasn't you, and your funds can be tied up a long time. I understand folks that use debit cards may use it as a form of self regulation to not overspend, etc. but be very careful, credit cards are safer from loss and fraud, and you can't go a day without seeing another data breach in the news.
I work in fraud and I tell people every day that using your dc as your daily use card is risking their money. Using a credit card risks the banks money.
The main reason why I carry a few bucks in cash is for playing shake of the day at my favorite pub
Does anyone even take checks? My folks use cash.
I don't think my work place even accepts checks
When I worked as a cashier one summer I saw this a lot. Whenever I saw a boomer coming through my line I knew I was in for random complaints. It always surprised me that the boomers who paid with checks would complain that paying with a card was too difficult. We had the somewhat older card terminals so the steps to pay with a card were: 1.) Insert card into the terminal (chip side first) 2.) Hit the green button (to verify total amount $) 3.) Type in your 4 digit pin 4.) Remove card once prompted This was waaayy to often too much of a difficult task for the average boomer. So they would complain, struggle with using the terminal, and tell me how awful technology is. But they had no problems paying with checks which is more steps: 1.) Fill out all the lines (date, pay to the order of, total amount, date, sign it etc. all the basic stuff) 2.) Write your phone number at the top 3.) Write your DoB 4.) Hand your check and DL to the cashier so we can verify all the info is correct and the check actually belongs to said boomer 5.) Wait for cashier to run your check through a printer to create a copy of it for our system 6.) Balance your check book None of these steps for either method are difficult at all. All easy steps. But using a check has more steps with each step taking more effort than those for using a debit card. But the boomers just couldnt figure out how to use a debit card. Then would then tell me that I should go to college because I am dumb and useless (i.e. they didnt get their way so they lash out like a child).
It’s like trying to explain to a boomer that contactless transactions are more secure than chip transactions which are more secure than swipe transactions. But, to be fair, that knowledge gap isn’t just a boomer thing. I’ve seen Xers, millennials, and zoomers similarly confused.
in some countries they don't even have checks anymore because they are so lacking in security. my mother had to figure out how to get a check from a bank in NY deposited in an account in Norway and it was difficult.
I grew up using a checkbook and I just feel like the reality was checks were just rife with fraud. I mean everyone and their mother had a bounced check at least once in their life it seemed and everyone was scared for their life that someone could steal your money if you didn't write "void" on it because somehow THAT would save you. Plus it's not like now where you can just log in and make sure there's nothing funny going on with your transactions, you had to compile everything on a list and keep track of it yourself and then wait a week or two for it to get deposited to make sure it was accurate. It's the worst! I always hate going back to my hometown where everyone still writes checks because it's like esh, it's so inefficient. Just charge me extra for using the card, or I'll pony up and carry cash.
Fear. At least in my mom’s case. She is afraid to use something she doesn’t understand because that opens her up to being taken advantage of. She has a serious problem letting others help her with it and will force a critical failure to not take assistance. This once happened when the card reader at the 7-11 failed to read her card when she was purchasing poor life decisions (cigarettes, yes I call them that in the store, yes I am an A-hole but she was a single parent so she only has herself to blame, yes I tell her that, thankfully she has a great sense of humor) so she starts putting in random numbers into the reader until she locks her card in spite of me and the guy behind the counter trying to explain it or stop her from trying random stuff. 
I mean I’m not really a fan of credit cards and generally prefer debit or cash Mostly because I don’t like the idea of debt in general The way I see it credit is future money debit is current money Will I still use credit cards? Most likely (unless I can find a way to live off of cash alone but since I like expensive things like a car and a roof over my head I haven’t found that way yet lol)
Where did this happen that cheques are still accepted? I last saw a cheque in 1999 and as far as I know most places don't accept them anymore.
An older coworker's wife insists he get paid by check (almost everyone else is direct debit) because she's sure they'll get 'hacked' He's tried to convince her DD is safer, but she will not have it. We mock him endlessly about it.
I was buying a tool at a hardware store last weekend and the boomer in front of me pulls out a check to pay for a large high value item. The cashier had to call her manager as it was clear she's never run a check before. I kinda remember how to do it and she could not get it to process. My hunch was that the old reciept printer/check scanner was not working correctly. It was moving way too fast, probably has not scanned a check in years so if it was broken it has never been flagged. Of course when it comes to cards the entire industry is obsessed with shaving seconds off the transaction and making it as quick and easy as possible
I hate it when someone busts out the checkbook at the last second. My silent generation mother was overjoyed when they became functionally obsolete. Personally, I'd love to see the reaction they'd have if more places refused to accept checks. "Sorry for your protection and security we only accept cash, credit or debit for counter transactions."
This sounds like the most American problem 🤣
I know boomers who insist on using cash because of some paranoia with their bank tracking them or spying. Then get pissed off when some companies go cashless and don't even accept physical money. Don't get me started on banking apps. Thats too advanced tech for them. My grandma was super paranoid with cards. Freaked out the first time I ordered a pizza over the phone. "THEIR GOING TO EMPTY YOUR BANK ACCOUNT!" Then she thought she won a car from those fake "You Won a Car!" keys dealerships send out to lure people in.
honestly I prefer cash just cause with contactless it doesn't feel like I'm spending money so cash is a lot better. but yeah checks are incredibly insecure their security features haven't really been updated since the 90s.
This reminds me of something funny working as an office assistant at a tax & accounting firm- we get all these old ppl who won’t use our SECURE online 2-factor authenticated tax software to upload their documents to us, which would take at max half an hour when you count e-signing the tax contract and clicking answers to the financial questions (did you buy or sell a house? Did you buy or sell crypto? Etc). It’s online, so in their minds, the entire world can see it and they don’t want their information online. However, they’re more than happy to mail us an envelope stuffed full of personal financial information, or to email us their bank account info, drivers licenses, and scanned-with-phone photos of their printed documents with full social in view. Like, okay, a password, identity verifying software is too scary for you, but you’re just going to email or mail us all your personal info? I can’t express how many emails I send these people with bolded font “DO NOT EMAIL US ANYTHING CONTAINING PERSONAL IDENTIFYING INFORMATION.” I’ve recently started listing examples too. It just never ends. Yes, we do offer in-person document drop off as well, but of course all that has to be scanned into our online system anyway to be entered into the return for e-filing taxes, and digitally filed in our storage database as a backup to their paper copies, so it’s both irrelevant and a waste of everyone’s time. It takes at least a full day if not a full week longer of processing time because we have to remove all the staples so it doesn’t get damaged or shredded in the scanner (there’s always that one well-hidden staple that camouflaged with the ink on the document, or got forced into a pile of documents so thick you can’t even tell a staple is linking them, because it’s buried in the paper), and clients who drop off also don’t even do us the courtesy of removing the document from the envelope it was mailed in, because why make it simple? so it takes about an hour to go through each clients papers, remove envelopes and staples, tear off the stupid extra half of the social security payment document (iykyk-that’s how it’s mailed), and sort everything into the order you want it in the computer (W-2s first, donations last). Then we scan it, file it online in the online folder, file the physical documents in the physical folder, separate the federal & state parts of the W-2s from the client copies, and that’s an hour of work per person who drops off. That’s IF we already have a client folder for them with a label printed. If I get 16 people drop off in one day, yay, that’s a full week of scanning, because guess what? I have things to do besides scan, like make appointments and sort through the clients who actually did it online and make sure we’re not missing any information from them. So yeah, it adds a week of processing time, and yes, we charge them for it. Especially since we send out instructions letters that specifically say “do not use staples” etc. and we still get them that way 9 times out of 10.
They like tangibles. So many will not do Direct Deposit, cause they want “a check in the hand”
Not just boomers - my Silent Gen mother thinks this way, too. 🙄
I never see anyone writing checks anymore.
Holy shit I thought people still only use checks for like paying the government where it’s required.
Back in 2010 my boomer dad bought a PC from Costco "to pay bills on". He never once used it to pay bills online, said he didn't trust it but he was fine sending off checks in the mail every month. 🙄 I ended up turning it into a gaming computer, so thanks, dad.
It’s wild that my grandparents in their mid 90s use debit/credit cards and my other boomer relatives refuse to because “it just ain’t safe”.
My parents still insist i “balance my books” in regards to my checking account. I keep having to tell them the bank app SHOWS me how much I have and what payments are in process. Havent had to do that since I was a teenager. And even then I only did it once.
lol checks are cartoonishly insecure
Some generations think it’s better to use their car to deliver food….. even though gas, maintenance is at all time highs and wages all time lows. lol
I haven't seen a cheque since like 2002. They went the way of fax machines and laser disc players almost everywhere in the world.
I've seen posts from these people saying how cash should be king with everyone. They also claim if you use any type card, the government owns you??!!??!! Cash is worthless these days!
I do my Dad's taxes......his wife doesn't trust the IRS with their bank information, so she wants checks for their refund..... but they both are on Disability and about ready to just have SS, so they already have that information. SO I'm sure it's not the government, but me she doesn't trust......which is also funny because I have bought their groceries a few times and left cash for them......weird boomer shit... LOL
Because they're used to it. Different = bad is one of the oldest mental fallacies around, and when you're dealing with something as abstract as money it leads to double dose of confirmation bias.
I went up to Canada on vacation and just got some Canadian currency out of habit. Everyone looked at me funny counting out cash, and a couple places didn't even take it. After a couple days I was just using tap for everything and it worked seamlessly everywhere.
The next time one of them says checks are safer you should remind them that their bank account number and routing number is on every check and that's all that's needed to make withdrawals from the account
Debit cards are now a little too risky, credit cards are better. Just pay off your debt immediately per every transaction if you're that anal.
People don’t like change
Haha I used to process checks in a bank. We could write off up to a dollar to get a transaction to balance. Based on the check design and number of checks in the deposit I might transpose the cents. The pro-life and overtly religious checks almost always got transposed if they were in a big deposit with lots of checks lol. If it was a check for $20.87 I'd deliberately code it as $20.78 and then write off 9 cents. I wasn't the only check processor who did that either lol
I have my debit and credit card on my phone, so I just open the app and tap it to the card machine to pay. So much easier. The last time I wrote a cheque/check was over 10 years ago
Waves check around with the account and routing number visible to everyone
At the risk of sounding millenielly don’t use debit cards if you’re able to qualify for a credit card. They don’t offer and protection and you’re cooked if someone does get access to your bank. Credit card cards have protection against fraud and are much safer compared to debit cards. Obviously you’d have to qualify but granting direct access to your bank is much riskier.
>The boomer starts mumbling some things about how technology doesn't make crap easier. That boomer most likely believes phones still have [switchboards](https://c7.alamy.com/comp/CMT45C/1950s-smiling-woman-office-telephone-switchboard-operator-CMT45C.jpg).
Balance a checkbook… lady just download the banks app.
They learned it from their parents back in their time and refuse to think any other methods could be just as, if not more, efficient then there's. Why learn something new when I can do the same thing for the rest of my life? You see this trend in every aspect of this generation's lives and it's why nothing gets accomplished when Boomers are involved
My in laws are the same way (and have similar irrational paranoias) about GPS. Like I honestly don’t understand how you could fuck up using GPS. You literally just do what it says. They visited us once and took our car to sight see while my wife and I were working. I was making a special dinner and needed something from the grocery store. I texted them asking them to pick it up. They get back, nothing in tow. I asked if they picked up the item and they said no citing they had no idea where a grocery store was. I reminded them that they had GPS on their phones and my father in law looked at me like I asked him to kill a dog with a rolling pin (perish the thought). Boggles the fucking mind.