Stimulating the Economy

I usually have some sort of culture clash when I come back to the United States and this time was no exception. All was going well; I got the rent-a-car and drove, zipping about on freeways faster than I’ve driven in over a year. All that was good and seemed normal enough. Then I picked up my daughter, who arrived from Sydney with her infant son and the flight from hell (see her blog) for a visit with her dad and her grandparents, my parents.

She said that G.W. Bush in his wisdom had sent her an economic stimulus check and she assured me that she was here to rescue our faltering economy with her $300 check. Problem is, she has no checking account in the US anymore. She asked if she could endorse it to me and I could cash it at Wells Fargo. Sure, why not?

We went to Wells Fargo and she endorsed the check to me. I approached the counter and explained our situation. No. Wells Fargo could not take a third party check even though it was issued from the US Treasury, even though I have an account with them and they could take the money from my account if the check turned out to be bogus.

“But she has come all the way from Australia to stimulate the economy,” I said. No one thought it was funny. They were inflexible and the answer remained: No.

“Where are we supposed to cash the check then, now that it is endorsed over to me?” I asked

“Try WalMart,” they said. “It might cost you $3, but I think they cash government checks.

Now I know about the Nigerian problem and all the forgeries that are better than the real McCoy, but it seemed ridiculous that they could debit my account is the check turned out to be a fake. We went to WalMart.

They were fine with the check after they saw her ID and passport and were all set to cash the thing until they turned it over and noted the endorsement.

“Oh, I’m sorry. We cant cash this because you have written on the back,” they said.

We told them about how she was here to rescue the economy. No one laughed and no one thought it was funny.

“Okay,” said Meraiah, ever the practical one. “Let’s take it to one of those dodgy check cashing places. They’ll do it.”

So we drove around town until we happened on the perfect place with large signs out front: CHECKS CASHED, PAY DAY LOANS, WESTERN UNION.

The Mexican American woman who ran the place was very simpathetic when Meraiah explained about the endorsement problem she said, “No problem. Just fill out this form verifying that you signed it and everything is set.”

M signed the form paid her $6 and retrieved her $294 from the kind lady at the counter.

When did things change in the United States, we’d like to know, when institutions have become inflexible about rules and put a person through bureaucratic hoops that make Banana Republic countries look easy to move around in? And why is it that it now takes a Latina to sort through the mess and fix the problem for the customer?

Oh, and she is the only one who thought our joke about M single-handedly rescuing the American economy was funny

M still hasn’t been able to spend the money the Shrub sent her.

It’s no wonder the economy is in mess.