When Gert Watkins pulls out a check during Wal-Mart or Target, a shoppers in line behind her hurl their eyes, whine deeply and fuss underneath their breath.
Ms. Watkins, a 67-year-old former landowner in Birmingham, Ala., knows that many other shoppers compensate with credit cards and withdraw cards, though she doesn’t care.
“They make those faces, though we just…