Not By Design

This began when I pulled out a new pack of checks (Nos. 5221 to 5260) and found a check-size notice informing me that I was going to be given the opportunity to test out some designs I might want the next time I reordered. The first five checks in this pack, it said, were of various styles but were also real checks, imprinted with my name and numbered in sequence with the rest of my checks. The first one had two kittens on it.

Like many of the other opportunities presented to me by my bank these days, this was not...

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