h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I once visited a bookshop in an English country town. The shop was all oak beams, thatched roof and sloping floors. It had all been modernised, of course, with the latest electronic cash registers and computer terminals, but it was still called 'Ye Olde Englysshe Booke Shoppe'.

I selected a recent paperback edition and asked if I could pay by cheque. They said that was OK but insisted I make it out to 'Ye Olde Englysshe Booke Shoppe', written out like that in full. So I did that in my best copperplate script, then for the amount I wrote 'Fyve Poundef'.

They took the cheque!

That's cheap for a new book isn't it? did the money ever come out of your account?

After I changed my name a friend thought it would be witty to write me a check for one million pounds in my old name, not realising it that you can bank a cheque in previous names, as long as the bank staff "are confident that it was intended for you" not a problem as I work in a bank.

Any time I want I can hit him with a heafty admin fee for a bounced cheque...

They probably realised that it's the *figures* that count, not the written amount. That is, if the figures in the box on the right differ from the amount in words, or if the amount in words is illegible, it's the figures in the box that determine how much gets paid out. This is why you should always start your digits as far to the left as possible, and draw a line to fill in any unused space. Otherwise somebody unscrupulous (or vengeful) could add extra digits in any available gap.