the.com/roll call
bureaucracy's oldest trick for proving you exist by saying so out loud.
means a spoken or written check of who is present, done by reading names from a list one at a time.
from from military and naval practice of literally rolling out a parchment scroll listing troops, read aloud so officers could catch deserters before battle.
congress versionmembers answer yea or nay by name, on record
military usecaught deserters before muskets even existed
schools adopted itto bill attendance-based funding accurately
for instance
us house roll call — records every representative's vote by name since 1789
school attendance — teachers read names each morning, nationwide, daily
military muster — navies used it to catch deserters before setting sail