Monday, February 01, 2010
Going through contortions to spend money
Tom Angleberger
The New River Valley-based reporter answers your questions Mondays in his column, What's on Your Mind?
Recent columns
Q: My gripe is the way the credit card sign places are made at store checkouts. You either have to stand on your head or half lay down to sign the slip. There is no place to rest your hand, and I'm sure if the card company checked the signature, they could never read it. Looks like there should be a solution.
-- Jim Hinchee, Salem
A: This appears to be one of those questions that's not really a question. (I don't see any question marks.) But it is a mighty good point. Especially, when it comes to those electronic signature thingummies which are installed at all sorts of angles.
And that brings me to some actual questions: Since it's so hard to write legibly, is it really important to do so? Does anyone really care if I sign or just scribble?
Well, Visa cares.
Visa doesn't get into the checking of signatures itself, spokesman Jay Hopkins told me. But it does expect the merchants or the banks to do so.
The signature is one of many layers of fraud protection, he said. If there's a case of fraud and it turns out the merchant or the bank didn't check the signatures, then it might be the merchant or the bank that gets stuck paying the bill.
And that brings us to a possible solution: The amount of money that a store loses this way is actually less than the cost of providing a proper writing pad. Or, maybe it's just hard to design one that fits everybody.
Q: I have an old address for St. Jude's Ranch in Nevada to send old greeting cards. Could you find out if they can still use the cards in their fundraising?
-- Barbara Krzysko, Salem
A: This is the eternal after-Christmas question, but it was time for a recap since I was unsure about the status of the program, too.
Yes, St. Jude's Ranch still accepts used cards from Christmas and other occasions -- they especially want birthday and thank you cards -- but only until the end of February.
Remember, folks, the card program is also a fundraiser for St. Jude's Ranch, which helps abused and abandoned children. So, if you send in cards now, consider buying some next Christmas. (Or just include a nice donation with your used cards.)
St. Jude's Ranch for Children, Recycled Card Program, 100 St. Jude's St., Boulder City, NV 89005
Grammar Grumbles
Last week reader Betsy Biesenbach defended the word "ain't." But this week's she's putting the grammar hammer down on "free reign."
"I think the phrase is supposed to be "free rein," referring to a time when everyone rode or drove horses and if you weren't in a particular hurry and you trusted the animal, you slackened up on the reins and let the horse choose its own path. But I think in these days when some people never even see horses, much less handle a pair of reins, that this is a lost cause, too."
That's OK, we specialize in lost causes here in the Grammar Department.
Our Grammar Guru, retired English professor Virgil Cook, and I both hit the books. We found several dictionaries and grammar texts that back you up, both on the correct use of the saying and its equine origin.
In "The Grouchy Grammarian," writer Thomas Parrish calls this problem the Sounds Alike Trap. Other examples of this trap include, "the straight and narrow" and "right of passage."
Got a question? Got an answer? Call Tom Angleberger at 777-6476 or send an e-mail to woym@roanoke.com. Don't forget to provide your full name, its proper spelling and your hometown. Look for Tom Angleberger's column on Mondays.
