How's your handwriting??

[jymbee]

Person in front of me at the checkout was signing their name on one of those electronic signature gizmos for credit card purchases. Looked to be taking care to carefully sign their full name very neatly.

My turn: A 1 second, quick up/down swipe with two letters that vaguely resembled my initials. The machine did not seem to have a problem with either.

Over the years given I write so little, my penmanship has gone from fairly legible at best to abysmal. Even if I make an attempt to write something carefully, my brain is willing but my fingers just don't get it and I end up with a hen scratched jumble of cursive & block letters trailing off to just... squiggly lines.

 

[Larry N.]

My penmanship is fine (that is, similar to that of 60+ years ago) with pen[cil] and paper, but those tiny electronic screens set at odd angles, sometimes with obstructions, make it very difficult to get a sig that I can recognize -- it's certainly not the same experience as on paper.

 

[Boat Bum]

So much for writing SEE LICENSE on the signature line of my CC. I would say less than 5% of cashiers actually ask.

 

[Chef Duane]

My cursive penmanship is terrible, probably no better than a doctor's. The only thing I sign in cursive is my signature and that's not very good either. Oddly, I went to school with the nuns who made us do everything in cursive and back then (early Triassic period) my handwriting was pretty good. But since then everything I do is printed. Probably a rebellion (among other things) from when the nuns forced cursive on me.

 

[Wasillaguy]

The nuns (and public school teachers) would walk down each row and tilt your paper at an angle so your letters would get the slant they wanted. No consideration was given that lefties should slant the other direction. By tilting the paper, the teacher made it even more difficult for the southpaw to achieve the desired result.
This is why many lefthanders crank their arm/hand around in a circle when they write, myself included (nuns with rulers and wooden pointers).

 

[triplethreat]

I'm 71 and my cursive (what's that anymore?) handwriting is still very good. The biggest difference now is that I have to take my time a little more to write it, than it took several years ago when I was still working and signing my name quite often. I've been complimented on my hand writing many times over the years and I'm even a leftie......but no nuns were involved in my handwriting lessons. LOL

One other thing I've realized....when signing your name electronically on the pad thingys......some of them are just cheaply made and NO ONE could sign there and produce great results. I'm an Android guy myself, but I recently signed a contract on an ipad/tablet thing and the quality of those devices show instantly. My signature looked almost as good as if I were writing it on a paper contract. Pretty amazing really.

 

[Isaac-1]

Mine is awful, I broke my right wrist when I was in 5th grade and it has been awful ever since, though it was not great before that either.

 

[Joezeppy]

Mine has never been great but has definitely gotten worse over the years. Signature is different every time but so bad you'd never guess my name by reading any of them! I also remember the days of flipping credit cards over to match the signature. Don't know why they even have a signature line any more.

 

[Ohiosnowbird]

I always sign bugs bunny on those electronic signature thingys. No one catches it or seems to care.

 

[msw3113]

Remember stationery stores? I used to visit them and try every new pen that came out. T-ball Jotters, Parkers with the two hearts on the clip, Scriptos, Paper-Mate Flairs, Bic, Wearevers, and of course Uncle Bob's ballpoint that showed a picture of a naked lady if you turned it upside down.
Alas, none of them improved my handwriting.
Tremors and lack of practice have made it worse in my advancicng years.

 

[jymbee]

So much for writing SEE LICENSE on the signature line of my CC. I would say less than 5% of cashiers actually ask.

5%? I can't recall even a single time when a cashier even glanced at my CC signature.

 

[jymbee]

... I recently signed a contract on an ipad/tablet thing and the quality of those devices show instantly.

Ever tried go sign your name on some online form with a mouse? Pretty comical...

 

[NY_Dutch]

Ever tried go sign your name on some online form with a mouse? Pretty comical...

In most cases, the only one that could complain about a forged signature is yourself, so what you scribble on the screen doesn't really matter.

 

[RayIN]

My "signature" on those computer devices is a wiggly line, it nor the merchant cares.

 

[ButchW1]

Mine is awful, I broke my right wrist when I was in 5th grade and it has been awful ever since, though it was not great before that either.

Me too.. But I broke my arm in 4th grade.. My Mom always blamed my poor hand writing on that… But like you, it was atrocious before and after… I’ve had essential tremors for the past 20 years in my right hand.. So I’ll sign my name, but I won’t fill out any paperwork, unless it’s with a keyboard…
Butch

 

[Professor David]

I had the bank call recently about my signature on a check I wrote. I just did the quick sign I usually do when checking out at a register. The bank actually caught my scribble sig and flagged it.

 

[Chef Duane]

I remember these.

 

[jymbee]

I had the bank call recently about my signature on a check I wrote. I just did the quick sign I usually do when checking out at a register. The bank actually caught my scribble sig and flagged it.

Small local bank or...?

 

[Tileman1]

My grandchildren, who have graduated from high school, cannot read or write cursive. I'll have to ask what they do when a document requires a signature. I do remember an uncle who signed everything with an "X".

 

[Professor David]

Small local bank or...?

Yes relatively small credit union in town.