Yes, it was a relief for Genius to get the check I mailed to him. Back in the day, you wouldn't think twice. It's the U.S. Mail, by cracky! Rain, snow, and gloom of night can't put the kibosh on the U.S. Mail! What could possibly happen? Well. That was back in the day.
When The Pony was in college in Norman, Oklahoma, it took a long time for the mail to arrive. At least a week. I wasn't sending checks. Just a letter. But still. I wanted it to be PONY EXPRESS, heh, heh!
Back in the mid 80s, I was teaching in Cuba, Missouri, and taking classes towards my Master's degree. The college was in Springfield, but I was able to get some remote classes at Fort Leonard Wood. A bit of a drive on an evening after work, but still closer than Springfield. Of course my tuition was sent to Springfield.
I was shocked to get a letter that my tuition had not been paid! How could that be??? I had mailed it in plenty of time! I called the college and the bank, and there was no record of my payment. What could I do? I mailed it again. At least this check got there. I never found out what happened to the original. It's probably in a falling-down shed somewhere between Cuba and Springfield, stuffed among a truckload of mail bags!
These days, it's not just over-worked or disgruntled mailmen you have to worry about. It's THIEVES! We've had missing mail from EmBee. Nothing important except BILLS! Which I only found out when we got the next ones, and they had PAST DUE amounts on them. At separate times, it's happened to the electric bill, and the phone bill. Also, I didn't get my teacher letter one summer, and had to find out from a colleague what the schedule was for our inservice days. Somebody stole a package, but that was Genius's acne medicine, heh, heh. Bet they got a surprise when they opened it. Perhaps they were expecting fine jewelry...
Anyhoo... I knew not to send that check to Genius in a card. Sweet Gummi Mary! Even an idiot thief can assume a CARD might contain money. My worry was that somebody might steal my letter with a bunch of other mail (like the robbery!) and find that check and "whitewash" it. Or whatever it's called. I don't want to look it up. They change who the check is to, and then cash it. Seems odd that it's so easy, and the banks don't notice. But I guess much of it is automated.
Anyhoo... Genious had scoffed at that idea. "Mom. It's not like the 90s anymore. People aren't stealing checks." I beg to differ! I think it's a big deal these days. Perhaps Genius is on another page (or another screen, heh, heh) with his computery-programmy knowledge, so fears the wire transfer more than the check in the mail.
Bottom line, I'm just rambling. The mail service is not what it used to be!
4 comments:
Geez, he made it sound like the 90's were olden days gone by a long, long time ago! It has gotten to the point where we transfer funds instead of sending checks.
I'd trust a wire transfer over a cheque any day! When my brother helps me out he deposits money straight into my bank account from his bank account. No waiting for the mail and hoping it arrives! I could do the same for my kids, but they live closer so I just take the cash to them.
Kathy,
Genius was born in the mid-90s! So I guess they ARE the olden days to him. I doubt he noticed anything about checks back then. But he DID ask for a fax machine for Christmas when he was in kindergarten...
River,
Genius might have been considering the difficulty of getting the info from his online bank to give us so we could have our bank send the wire transfer. For him, while working and moving into his new house, it was simpler just to do nothing, and take a picture of the check WHEN (not IF, heh, heh) it arrived.
If sending a wire transfer is so simple, why did the title company (when we sold our Flip House) have to wait a couple hours, and then give us our checks from it the next day? I thought a wire transfer was instant. That's what bothers me. Even Realtor said she would always go with a check instead of a wire transfer. I figure she does this more often than we do!
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