andrel wrote:
> She did not earn enough to 
> have her own credit card (yes, the cards work differently here too).

We have that, or at least certainly had that a couple decades ago. I don't 
know after the latest financial "melt-down" here.

> She had also that bewildering experience of going into a 
> bank with some Dutch money and find out that this bank could not change 
> that into dollars.

Well, we're not Europe. :-) Foreign countries aren't nearly as close to the 
USA as they are close together in Europe.

> Is there a reason why you would want that freedom?

Sure. We don't trust our government.

> Not familiar with SOL, but I can guess. Well, yes, but as everybody has 
> a bank account, that problem seldom occurs.

Well, you mean, except perhaps the tourists, or children, or whatever.

>>> If it is a private person, I'd do that in cash. 
>>
>> With the check, you have proof that you paid, for example. Otherwise, 
>> you still need to get a receipt, and you still can't mail the thing.
> 
> The log of your bank account is proof here.

Generally it doesn't come to that unless you actually get to court. Most 
people are happy to try to figure out what happened. If I mail you a check 
and you don't cash it, I say "Gee, must have gotten lost in the mail" and I 
mail another. Rarely happens, tho.

> Ours will pay the shop owner the amount that is on the cheque no matter 
> if you have it in your account or not. What happens if you spend more 
> than you have is between you and the bank. The shop owner does not need 
> to care about that.

That's rather different, yes. Our banks aren't quite as customer-focused.

To get that level of assurance here, you can take credit/debit cards or 
cash, or bank checks or money orders. Just not personal checks.

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   I ordered stamps from Zazzle that read "Place Stamp Here".

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