When I was in the fifth grade, I had my first taste of adult life.  We were learning how to be responsible members of the community.  A fake town was established.  We all had roles to play in this town.  As a functioning member of the community, we each had salaries.  Our money was used to purchase essentials.  However, we were not given paper money.  That would have been too simple.  We were given checkbooks.  The teacher showed us how to write a check as well as how to balance the checkbook. Writing a check was serious business for me.  I remember the example that she had on the board. …