Banking on Small Town Connections
I’m going on a day trip tomorrow with a friend. We’re driving three hours south to pick up something she’s buying, and we’re also going to high tea at a place we’ve been wanting to try. I decided to get cash today for tomorrow’s trip. I changed banks when I moved to my new little town. I don’t keep a car and there’s a local bank right across the street from me. I moved all my accounts there. I left a little money in the accounts at my old bank. It’s a national chain. I’ve been putting off closing out my accounts there. At first I needed access to my online records for income tax purposes but mostly I was lazy. The bank started charging me a fee because of how little money was left in the account. It was a decent balance but it didn’t meet their standards for free checking. There weren’t any icy winds today so it was the perfect time to walk to the branch of my old bank nearest to me. It’s about an hour roundtrip. A nice walk, especially on a sunny winter day.
Okay, a slight segue…I live in a big old apartment building in the center of town. There’s a cafe on the ground floor. They often have two-dollar bills. We have a tradition in my family of gifting two-dollar bills on special occasions. I sometimes trade for two-dollar bills when I buy my coffee. I found out from one of the owners that there is an older man in town who pays for things with two-dollar bills. The cafe in my building is one he frequents. I found out from one of the postal workers at the the post office across the street, just down from my bank, that the man also uses two-dollar bills there.
Meanwhile back to me closing my old bank accounts today…the teller could not have been nicer. She was super helpful, quick, and efficient. I had my money in no time, and I left knowing that the accounts were closed and that the bank would provide me with any transaction information I might need in the future. As I was leaving I turned back around and asked, “Do you happen to have any two-dollar bills?” The teller told me that she did. She said she orders a bunch of them every month because they have one customer who likes to pay for things with them because he likes to keep them in circulation. I said, “I think I know who that is.” She said, “I bet you do.” I told the teller that I live in the building that houses a cafe the man frequents. We both chuckled. I really enjoy discovering these small town connections, especially the invisible ones.
Cinse Bonino
2023
