The other day I purchased a gate latch at a local Tractor Supply store. the clerk scanned a bar code on the package and I opened the payment icon on my watch. I held my watch close to the point of sale terminal on the counter and followed the instructions on the screen. I entered my personal identification number by touching the numbers on a keypad display on the touch screen. Then I used my forefinger to trace my signature in the box on the screen. As I did, I complained a bit to the clerk about the fact that I can’t make my signature look right by dragging my finger on the screen. The clerk responded, “It doesn’t matter. Most people just make a few squiggles.”

It matters to me. I’ve tried to use a consistent signature since I was a child. I was taught that my signature mattered. When I got my first checking account, my father taught me how to write a check and he emphasized that having a consistent signature was important to prevent someone from committing fraud and making unauthorized withdrawals from my account. I practiced by signature on a pad of counter checks that we kept at the shop. Counter checks are a thing of the past, but customers used to be able to fill in the name of their bank and create a legal transfer of money even if they did not have their checkbook with them.

I fashioned by signature in part after my father’s signature. We both have the same middle initial and when I sign my name I make a loop on the front of the H of Huffman that circles my middle initial just like my father did. It is a distinctive feature that is not common. It is also difficult to replicate with my finger on a touchscreen.

Times change. It has been 25 years since then U.S. president Bill Clinton signed the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act into law. For the record he used a pen on paper to sign the act. In those days it was the custom for presidents to sign bills and then hand the pen to supporters who witnessed the signing ceremony. For a quarter of a century people in our country have been able to enter into legal contracts by clicking a box on a computer screen. In numerous cases the courts have ruled that customers have released companies from legal liability by checking a box on a computer.

Not long ago I checked in at a doctor’s office for a routine medical procedure. They had a signature keypad on the counter. As part of the procedure I was asked to sign the keypad using a stylus several times. Each time I asked the receptionist checking me in what I was signing. The receptionist first offered a brief explanation something like, “That is authorizing the doctor to perform the procedure,” or “That is authorizing us to talk to your family members about your condition.” When I asked further the clerk was able to provide me with a printed copy of what I was signing. One of the forms I was asked to sign actually stated that I had received a copy of the document I was signing. If I had not asked, I would not have received the document. Relatives have reported to me being asked to sign electronic keypads at medical facilities where the receptionist or clerk could not provide copies of what they were signing.

There are still a few places where a formal signature is required. I can’t remember the specific forms, but there were a couple of documents involved in the purchase of our house that required ink on paper signatures. There is still a formal signing process at the title company when one commits to a mortgage and transfers title to real estate.

A few months ago we executed new wills, powers of attorney, and advance care documents. There was a formal ceremony in the lawyer’s office with a clerk, two witnesses, my wife and myself. We had been provided copies of each document in advance and been given an opportunity to suggest changes before the signing. At the ceremony we signed multiple copies of the documents and were provided copies of what we had signed. A couple of days later we received photocopies of the signed documents for our files.

Signing ceremonies invite serious reflection. When we sit in an office with witnesses and apply our signatures to paper, we think, “This is important. I need to know what I’m doing. Do I really agree to this?”

I have a few valued books that have been signed by the authors. For some of them, I waited in line clutching the book while the author signed the copies one at a time, asking if there was a dedication or a name the customer wanted to have addressed in the signing. But I have also purchased books from a bookstore that were presaged by the author. I have the signed copy but I never actually met the author.

It seems, however, that signatures are going by the wayside. I’ve watched as people just make a few squiggles on keypads that don’t seem to have any meaning. Once, when I was struggling to sign for a purchase, a clerk said, you can just drag you finger across the screen and reached over and made a straight line on the screen, which accepted it as my signature. I didn’t complain because I wanted to make the purchase, but I used my online banking to check all of my transactions every day for a couple of weeks because the experience left me not trusting the process. The transaction that had been made without me actually signing went through with no problem. I know that there is no longer a person at the bank who compares signatures, but I still want my signature to mean something.

When I have to e-sign on my computer I don’t use the stock signatures that the software offers. Instead I work to create my own signature by moving my finger on the touchpad of the computer. Sometimes it takes me several attempts to get the signature to look the way I want. There are some programs that retain my electronic signature and auto fill it onto computer forms.

Our oldest grandson has his own checking account at the bank, but he doesn’t have any checks. He will probably never use checks. He sees his plastic debt card as the key to making purchases. He knows how to make online purchases with the card. He will likely go through his life without ever thinking about his signature. It makes me sad to realize the loss of signatures as important parts of legal transactions.

Meanwhile, just like I did with the old counter checks when I got my first checking account, I keep practicing my signature. I’m getting better at signing with my finger on a touchpad. Sometimes the screen display even looks like my signature.