“That comes to $7.10,” says the laconic clerk at Byerly’s. The woman in front of me methodically unsnaps her purse, unfolds her pocketbook, fumbles with a ballpoint, and begins to write a check. She drafts the month, F-E-B-R-U-A-R-Y, while I begin to simmer. Why can’t it be May? She applies her careful, mid-century penmanship now to her check register. Slowly, slowly she folds her check at the perforation, and extracts it from the book. Inwardly, I scream, “DEBIT CARD! DEBIT CARD!”
In other states, people left their checkbooks in the 80s. Try handing the Soup Nazi a check in Manhattan, and he likely won’t be as polite as the uptown Minneapolis branch of Old Chicago. When they stopped accepting checks recently, they handed out notes of apology with every bill. We apologize for any inconvenience and hope that our great food, cold beer, and friendly service will maintain your relationship with us as customers, friends, and neighbors.
Others may laugh at us for writing checks for 87 cents and our “check writing stations” for the handicapped. And they do, according to Buzz Anderson, president of the Minnesota Retailers Association. “When we talk to retailers in other parts of the country they say, ‘What?! You still accept checks in your state?’”
But Anderson says our acceptance of checks stems from our history of being neighborly. “I think it says something about our culture and tradition and history,” he says. He even remembers when retailers wrote counter checks for customers. “We’re still a pretty honest bunch of folks.”
Jason Korstange, a TCF director, wishes people would stop using so many checks, because they cost a lot more to process than any other form of payment. He says checks aren’t as safe as most people think either. A dozen different people may handle your check before it gets back to you. “There’s still a hardcore group of people who don’t plan on changing,” says Kathy Paese, a Federal Reserve System researcher. “Checks are going to be around for a while. They’re not going away anytime soon.” Paese describes the hardcore group as older Americans. We’ve noticed they’re probably a little more polite, a little more reserved, and a little more Minnesotan than average.
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