Immortality

~~When Banking Was Fun~~

Found an old friend on Facebook the other day. I haven't heard from Dagmar in about 25 years. Talking to her about the past brought up old memories. We worked at a small bank together in the 80's and early 90's. She was Teller Manager and I was Controller, Head of Human Resources, Security Officer, and Facilities Manager. Back then, one person wore many hats. We had a lot of fun at work. In those days, the neighborhood bank was a place for people to gather socially. Community leaders would come in for coffee, and many times, a simple hand-shake sealed a personal loan between a banker and a loyal, trustworthy customer. We didn't shove unwanted and unneeded bank products down our customers' throats every time they came in. Instead, as we waited on them and served their financial needs, we'd talk to them about their families and community activities and banter back and forth about life's experiences. We treated our customers like friends. We went to their kids' weddings and we attended many customers' funerals. In the late 80's when the FDIC declared many banks insolvent and the big banks acquired the little, privately owned banks, everything changed—forever. The customer became an anonymous account number with fees and service charges imposed upon him, even the long-time, third-generation, loyal customer who'd never been charged before. To acquire a loan required volumes of paperwork and many were declined. Eighty-year-old Mr. Jones and hard-working mother of four Mrs. Smith—who never missed a loan payment—no longer qualified under the big bank's standard of lending practices. No, being a banker today is no fun. It's a cut-throat, profit-hungry conglomerate built of stone and mortar with little regard for their neighbor standing silently in line, unheard and unacknowledged.