Signatures

Remember when library books had a pocket that held an index-sized card glued to the inside cover?  Glued opposite the pocket was a piece of paper lined off in boxes.  To check out the book you removed the card and signed your name.  The librarian stamped the date due next to your signature and also on the paper glued in the book.  They kept the card in a file so they knew who had the book.

I still remember how grown-up it felt when I was eight and was asked to sign my name on those cards.  Now we just hand over our library card to be scanned or swiped.  Do kids currently get to sign their names anywhere?  On schoolwork they're probably asked to print ...

Adults don't sign things as much as we used to, either.  Few write checks when shopping and even for charges we don't have to sign unless the purchase is over some amount, $25 or $50 depending on the store.  Bills get paid on line; no checks to sign. 

Handwriting is becoming an old-fashioned skill.  It's not taught in many schools.  The increasing use of PINS, electronic signatures, thumb prints, retinal scans and whatever new techy biometric is on the horizon mean hand-written signatures as proof of identity are maybe already obsolete.  The tech solutions, especially biometrics, are certainly harder to forge, which means better security.  But we've lost the visible individuality of our John Hancocks.

(image from HERE)

The use of that famous man's name as a synonym for signature will become one of those sayings that no one under a certain age will understand.

That makes me sad.