Wishing I Was Paid In Gold

There are days that I wish I were paid in gold. Or silver. Or even just a stack of tens and twenties. I believe getting cash in hand tends to re-enforce the value of a job. Once upon a time, an employee worked hard all week and at the close of business on Friday he or she was handed an envelope with their wages for that week. It tied the two together. Work equals money, because the money is right there in the palm of your hand on Friday evening. However, unless you happen to be an illegal alien working "off the books," that thinking is from another age, and for good reason. Having piles of cash around a business to pay the workers at the end of the week would be a huge security risk. Might as well put a giant "Rob Me!" sign on the door.

And so, the weekly paycheck became the choice of businesses. The money was safely at the bank tucked inside a heavily guarded vault and the check was a voucher stating how much of it was yours. You'd go to the bank with the check and they would give you your money. But then the bean counters -- that's those guys in accounting -- figured out that all of these weekly checks were kind of expensive and so the weekly paycheck became a bi-weekly payment. And for some, it became only once a month. The visits to the bank became more of hassle as those financial institutions reduced the number of tellers -- bean counters said they were too expensive -- and the lines became longer. But the banks had a great idea. They called it "direct deposit." Workers would work their two weeks or their month, but they no longer got a paycheck. They just got a stub showing them how much they got after all the various taxes and deductions were taken out. The money that was left was automatically deposited right into their checking account. They could access it practically anywhere using a debit card that worked just like Visa or Mastercard. And if you had to have cash, you could go to an Automated Teller Machine, insert your debit card, punch in a pin-number and -- Presto! -- you had cash. Last year, the local University decided to quit printing monthly pay stubs or live checks and went completely electronic. My company did the same this past summer. I get paid, but it just shows up in my checking account. If I want a check stub itemizing all the various taxes and deductions I have to log onto a secure website and print that information out. For me, this is a real disconnect. It almost feels like I'm working for nothing even though I know that is not the case. My checks don't bounce and the ATM still lets me withdraw cash. But I'm starting to have trouble remembering when payday actual is. Is it this week or next? For some reason, I don't think I would forget if I was paid weekly in gold.