With Help from Michael O'Leary Pt. 02

For the reasons that he did not want to leave his neighborhood, he remained unconvinced by Mr. McCarthy's emotional argument that Earth Bank was a better opportunity than was Neighborhood Bank. Yet, what did it matter. Neighborhood Bank would no longer exist. The decision was already made for him; the choice that Earth Bank left him was not a good one.

What he had at Neighborhood Bank, which he would not have at Earth Bank, was his neighborhood and the people who comprised the community. His job, as Head Teller at Neighborhood Bank, made him feel important. It gave him a hand in influencing the financial decisions, however small, of those people who happened in the bank and appeared before his window. What he had at Neighborhood Bank, which he would miss at Earth Bank, was a feeling that he was helping his neighbors and helping his neighborhood. His sense of community extended himself beyond the responsibilities of his job. Rather than a bank teller, he felt that his role was more like a financial liaison of the bank helping the customers of the community.

He thought of running for political office knowing that he could help his community more than those who were in office now, but he did not want to change his dislike for politicians by becoming one. He believed that most politicians were self-serving and dishonest. At Neighborhood Bank, he had control of his destiny, conversely, working for Earth Bank or if elected to political office even, he would not have the control that he needed to feel self-satisfied. Though he did not feel particularly satisfied at Neighborhood Bank and felt that he did not help his customers as much as he wanted, he would feel even more dissatisfied at Earth Bank.

Like a priest giving confession, he enjoyed his customers coming before his window one at a time saying, "Forgive me Michael for I have spent and it has been one week since my last deposit." He imagined responding to their spending and lack of savings by saying, "Make a deposit and promise thee that thou shall not use thou debit card for three days."

Like a monsignor giving his blessing, he allowed the neighborhood children to solicit contributions at the entrance of the bank for charitable organizations and for youth sports. Like the Bishop interpreting a rule of faith, he gave customers permission to post their notices of lost or found, for yard sales, or for anything of interest to the neighborhood on the bulletin board of the bank. Everyone who entered or left the bank paused in front of the corkboard filled with papers as if it was a fountain of holy water. Like the Pope giving his special dispensation to his audience at Vatican City, he allowed merchants to post flyers on the windows of the bank that advertised their weekly sales. He enjoyed the power that his job directly gave him over his customers and that indirectly gave him over his community.

The policy of the bank was not to post such things and forbade any solicitation of the customers of the bank for anything other than banking business. Yet, because the bank had been such an important part of the community for such a long time, their written policies were more of a safeguard should there be a problem with an employee or in liability should there be a problem with a customer rather than an expressed rule of commercial banking business. Each branch manager interpreted the policies of the bank as they saw fit.

Mr. McCarthy, who now openly expressed his dissatisfaction with his role in the community that he had enjoyed for 37 years, was as much a part of the community of South Boston as the Mayor was of Boston. No matter how much Mr. McCarthy complained about it and railed against it, he could not change it. Besides, although he would not admit it, he enjoyed the power over his customers that came with his job.

Once Earth Bank took over, their written policies were no longer guidelines but rules. More importantly, South Boston would no longer have a community bank, but another big bank, rather a glassed cubicle that replaced the customer service of Neighborhood Bank with an impersonal array of ATM machines. Neighborhood Bank had been the last small bank to hold out against the big banks buying out every small bank. Under the laws of banking, the laws that the mega-banks lobbied each year to change to accommodate themselves, these mega-bank mergers eradicated the competition so that these super-banks could charge whatever exorbitant fees they wanted, of course, for the convenience of the customer. The banks lobbied to change the same banking laws to charge their customers as much as legally allowed on their credit cards. The laying-off of bank tellers and the replacement of them with ATM machines decreased the expenses of the bank and increased their bottom line profits and earning that not only made their investors happier but also richer. It was an insult to the intelligence of their customers for the banks to proclaim that any of the changes to the banking laws were for customer convenience.