OK, not at all on topic, but these short animations made me smile.
Hancock
Buying a house in the US involves signing a stack of paperwork. The pile of papers is about ten inches tall. I did not sign every sheet, but I lost count of how may I signed and initailed. I am sure that it numbers well over a hundred. A couple of sessions last week took a combined time of two hours. The second session had a notary present, she insisted that I sign and initial with my middle initial, which I never do.
There does seem to an obsession with signing documents in the US. I signed a couple of dozens when buying a car here. The American pastime of litigation is, I am sure, partly to blame. Several of the house forms required me to acknowledge that I would not sue the seller for defects of which they were not aware.
There is even an American slang word for a signature, a Hancock; named in honour of John Hancock who was the first man to sign the Declaration of Independence. With my arm aching from all of this signing, the very English Tony Hancock came to mind. It certainly felt like I had donated an armful of blood.
