"Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May" is a poem by Robert Herrick. This poem portrays our existence on earth, and that people age as life goes on, and everything becomes boundless. Herrick here urges people to take advantage of youth and energy while they may! The poem is in the genre of carpe diem, to seize the day.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Paper or Plastic... Check OK?

A cheque (also spelled check) is a negotiable instrument instructing a financial institution to pay a specific amount of a specific currency from a specific demand account held in the maker/depositor's name with that institution. Both the maker and payee may be natural persons or legal entities.

This is the dictionary speaking, but me.. well, I am more of a plastic girl! I do carry cash with me but not in large amounts. I would rather use my ATM and credit cards, and hmmm well... OK FINNNNNNNNE! I carry around a checkbook! Yes! I do! I swear I do!

I dont know why people here in Kuwait get surprised when they know that I carry around a checkbook... even worse, they are just surprised I own one actually!

In Kuwait, for some odd reasons, its rare that people have checkbooks. To be quiet honest, I have not used it much.. I just wrote two checks since I have received it. The last person I wrote check to was a photographer, I wanted to print out some pictures he have taken. Well, I think he works as an individual and then makes a deal with a studio to print out his snaps, so they will only accept cash because its not really their work, and then I think he gives them a percentage. So when I went to that studio to get my prints, I didnt have cash with me so I asked him; "Can I write you a check?" He was like: "A check??? That's a first!!! But I guess its ok"

Am I the only person in my generation that owns a checkbook in Kuwait?

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

well, you & my dad :P He's the only person I've seen with a checkbook bas seriously, yeam I am kinda suprized :) o to a photograper too! LOL!


I do not like carrying large amounts o bills in my wallet so plastic is more than ok to me :)

Anonymous said...

I use nearly 2 cheque from our book every month...

Let me tell you from what I have noticed here there is no guarantee for cheque in Kuwait.. People while purchasing items give it to others but often they bounce back. As my dad is a business man we often used to come across these issues and finally we decided to only except cash or bank transfers... so i guess its nothing more than a peace of paper for no good reason..

whereas when I was in London I used to write nearly 5 cheque a month cuz there its a totally different thing :)

This Lady said...

I think you're probably the only one in your generation!
Checkbooks? Shakhbaree! I only see them in movies hahaha!

Plastic, baby, Plastic!

EniGma said...

lol i don't think i've ever seen a check/checkbook in kuwait!

Anonymous said...

The reason Kuwait doesnt use cheque's because even if you bounce a KD20 you could go to prison for years ...

Yara said...

nope.. i guess its u and my dad (rarely) :)

I dont like carrying money either and always use plastics.. but sometimes u need to keep cash with just in case of emergencies, for parking ect

Ansam said...

chikapappi-
LOL.. I was out of cash and the studio wont take my ATM card cuz its they wont charge it to their accounts

Amu-
Yeah I know what you mean

this lady-
Maybe I am LOL...

engima-
seriously?

Grey-
Yeah thats true

Yara-
yeah I dont carry much cash either

LayDeeLay said...

i use em back home a lot..but in Kuwait..never felt the need to...im guessin when u have large functions, it may come in handy wt photographers and caterers..and all of that...wt t era of plastic..guess those check books are goin extinct huh:o)

Anonymous said...

plastic! lol

same here, I've never seen any using a check!

Ansam said...

LayDeeLay-
I ordered'em to be able to trade in KSE...still didnt do that with the checks and now with switchin and changing accounts I have to order a new one for the new account ... or maybe I wont

Dreamy-
Yeah? I guess I am one of a kind :-P

Amjad said...

LOOL! Common Ansam! A checkbook?! :-p Actually I am also surprised that you own a checkbook!!

Use credit cards, we're in the 21st century! :-p

Ansam said...

Amjad did u read my post!!! heehee
I said I am a plastic girl but ordered checkbook for some other purposes and the store wont take cards and they wanted almost KWD 90 from me... I dont carry that much anyway.. so good thing I had my checkbook :-P

Anonymous said...

OK, Ansam just introduced me to her blog and so my comment might be too old.
I used to be a lawyer in Kuwait long time ago, checks used to be the beggist thing in business and else where, plastic wasn't so commen as now. and as someone here said if your check bounce for any amount its a crime and you go to prison, but after the invasion we had a great wave of bounce checks and there were crocks who go to stores buy things with checks and the sellers never collected anything, the number of bounced checks went up 2000% almost in few years. and no one is collecting any money and lots of people go to jail because of it. so the law changed to if you pay then you could get out of jail. I remember a Kuwaiti TV show collected money for these people. most people reason was I want to be like the rich and buy all designer for me and my kids. since then no one trust checks, even when you eventually collect on the check it take months and sometimes years and most of the time not the whole amount.

Anonymous said...

totaq8 that is very interesting information. Thanks

Ansam said...

Totaq8-
Thanks for the info :-)

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