It takes all kinds?

Last night at Schnucks, I encountered a south city version of my mom.

I was standing in the checkout line and the lady in front of me had in her hands two 20 ounce bottles of soda and a candy bar. When her purchase was rung up, she paid for it by writing out a check.

She did not know the date.

She also wrote the check out for ten dollars over the purchase amount.

I called my mom to tell her about this.

"I just did that at the grocery store this morning," she said.

"I know," I replied, "you always do that."

Seriously, she's done that for years. It's humorous because the same exact thing can be accomplished in one tenth of the time with a debit card. Plus, really, what are you going to do with ten bucks these days? I know ten bucks wouldn't get me very far. It would buy me lunch, but not a lunch I would want to eat. Then again, my mother and her gang of similarly-aged ladyfriends could probably stretch that ten bucks out for days.

This would be the point at which some people would just say, "it takes all kinds!" and move on, because I'll be the first to admit that this story doesn't have much of a point. Yet.

What's up with that phrase, anyway?

"It takes all kinds."

What takes all kinds? All kinds of what? What the hell? Is this supposed to mean something, or are these just words people say when they're bored with what another person is saying with the hope that it will make that person shut up? Maybe it's just a response used by people who don't pick up on the cue that the preceding sentiments were open-ended, meant to incite discussion rather than solicit a specific response.

I didn't write about my mother because I was hoping someone would tell me why people of a certain age do something (although if you are an anthropologist, sociologist, or psychologist, please feel free to weigh in). I wrote about her because I thought it was funny and wanted to share it with you, and perhaps encourage you to tell me that your 66 year old mother also does that very same thing. And if your mother does that very same thing, I bet she also pronounces the word sundae as sun-duh.

I do, however, want specific answers to the "it takes all kinds" queries above. I will also accept your comments on other phrases and their various uses, such as "out of pocket" (I've heard it used to describe someone who was unavailable), "another day in paradise" (workplace context only, please), or "what can you do?"

Okay, go.