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You're listening to Away With Words. I'm Grant Barrett. And I'm Martha Barnett. Remember when you

were first learning to sign your name?

You wanted it to be a thing of beauty, a reflection of yourself, crafted with confidence and style.

I mean, remember Grant how carefully you signed your first driver's license?

Oh, my Social Security card.

Oh, yeah? Yeah, when I was 18, I spent so long working on that capital letter G.

I wanted it to be perfect. And I still have that. And it's very different from what I sign now.

Yeah, exactly. That was my point that when I'm signing a receipt now, a credit card receipt or, or worse yet, one of those signature pads at the grocery, my name might as well be bleh, blah, blah.

Mine looks like an electrocardiogram.

This up and down peaks and valleys.

Just flatlining there at the end.

I've been thinking about this because Daniel Wheeler has an article in the Atlantic Monthly called

Signing Off, the Slow Death of the Signature in a PINCode World.

And he notes that there was a time when we took our

signatures seriously because we believe that they said something about who we are. But in part,

because of technology, all that's changing. And I mean, I've seen people write little smiley faces

on their credit card receipts. I've seen parents let their kids sign the signature pad at the grocery. And I don't know. I mean, I might as well sign, you know, Martina Barnet de Lova or something. You've done that, right? I would never do a thing like that, Grant. It's kind of a small space for comedy. I just sign it and move on. People are lying behind me.

...