What was their deal with taking credit cards? (Score 2, Interesting)

15 years ago I can understand why the might need an imprint of your card - but their refusal to give up the process was one of the reasons I hated going in there. A few years ago the store here got swipe readers and I thought... great! An then the cashier asked for my card - to imprint it on the reciept! WTF! Just plain stupid!