The other day I wrote my first check of 2010.
That first check of whatever new year always makes you pause, if only for a second, before writing in the appropriate year. You really had to pause this year because you’re so used to putting the zero in front of the year (07, 08, 09, etc.).
Many times, purely out of habit, we put the previous year in some of those early January checks.
I wrote a lot of checks in 2009 it seemed, largely because both of my children — one son and one daughter — were married last year.
The brunt came during my daughter’s wedding in July when it seemed like we were writing checks for everything. It got to the point where I was writing a $500 check and not blinking. “Oh, well, that’s not too bad,” I can remember saying to my wife.
Aside from the weddings, my check-writing wasn’t as demanding this year. It seems the more we can do online, the more we will do online and that includes paying a lot of the bills. I also have many payables taken directly out of my checking account.
It’s about the only way I can guarantee not being late for a payment which carries severe consequences with it these days.
I can go for weeks without ever seeing actual money thanks to the debit cards. It’s not unusual for me to have no money in my wallet — and it’s not just because of the aforementioned weddings.
Since we’ve started 2010, I wonder how people are pronouncing this new year.
Is it two-thousand ten or twenty-ten? Or is it just ten?
Will we be having the two-thousand ten Olympics in Vancouver or the twenty-ten Olympics?
For my way of thinking, the year should be pronounced twenty-ten. Think about it. I was born in 1957 and that’s pronounced nineteen fifty-seven. So why would this not be twenty-ten?
Some have suggested that next year — twenty-eleven — is when we’ll make the change to the pronunciation based on rhythmic flow. It’s not going to be easy to say two-thousand eleven. Much easier saying twenty-eleven.
I don’t know and I’m not sure why I got off on this tangent because, in the big picture, it really matters little anyway.
I’m just glad to still be around in twenty-ten, or two-thousand ten or even ten. And I’m really glad that there aren’t two more weddings awaiting me in 2010 like they were in 2009.
Belated Happy New Year to everyone — no matter what you call it.
MARK MAYNARD can be reached at mmaynard@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2648.
