Check me out!

As my sister Linda already mentioned ages ago, in France you're nothing if you don't have a check-book. You basically do not exist and it's simply impossible to make some payments without it. In Sweden nobody ever uses check-books. They do exist but not to the normal public. Here in England it's a little bit in-between. Everybody has them but you don't necessarily need one to survive. I must say it's very practical on your birthdays to receive checks. Since they're in your name nobody else can use them so it's a lot safer to post than cash. This week my husband taught me how to use my check-book and I wrote my very first check! It felt very weird to hand over a check to the guy who just tiled our kitchen but at the same time I felt very grown-up. I must say I enjoyed that feeling, it was new and it was British.