current state of mind: a little bit country; a little bit rock-n-roll
And she don’t care that I could fly her
To places that she ain’t never been
If she really wants to go I think deep down
she knows all she has to say is when
~ “Hey Leonardo” by Blessid Union of Souls
I bank at two banks. One is local and easy to access. The other is a national bank that happens to have no branches within 150 miles. I use them because they are a corporate sponsor of the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure. Every time I use my debit card, they make a donation. For that reason, I am generally happy with the arrangement even though I don’t have a local branch. Recently I regretted my loyalty because an auto-pay withdrawal came out of my account and I forgot to plan accordingly. This little “memory slip” resulted in an overdraft of six dollars and some change. Now, we all know how this works . . . whether it’s a penny over or $100.00 over, the bank will pay for it and charge $35.00 (or some ridiculous amount) to the account for their “trouble”. Granted, I could have wired funds from my local bank account to the national one; however, the wire fees would be about the same as the overdraft fee – so that seemed pointless. Then it occurred to me that I have friends across the country. Someone has to live close to a branch.
I contacted “Sun Devil” in Phoenix. I figured she had time on her side due to the time zone difference. I asked her to deposit $10.00 into my account. Since her car was in the shop she contacted her dad and asked him to drive her to the bank so she could make this deposit. She called me from the car and asked if I really only needed ten bucks or was I asking all of my friends across the country to deposit ten dollars each so I could get all my bills paid for free. She made the point that most friends would give ten dollars to a friend who asked for it without batting an eye. Even her dad was willing to chip in ten bucks for the “cause”. I laughed and assured her that I just needed the one ten dollar deposit. But our little chat got me thinking.
What if I really did ask all of my friends for ten dollars? Could I quit my part time job and just “pan-handle” from my friends and acquaintances? If I spaced out the asking to seem “random” I could bring in an extra $100 bucks a week for sure. I am not at that point – but if the economy doesn’t turn around, we may all need to borrow ten bucks from a friend.
Life is good!
PERSONAL NOTE: Thank you for running that errand for me. Give your dad a hug for me as well.
CONFIDENTIAL NOTE: I am really proud of you.
