Connecting the Dots

“Merry Christmas you miserable old building and loan!” It is one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite films, “It’s a Wonderful Life”. In fact, every year I make a point of driving by one of our branches and uttering the line in my best Jimmy Stewart accent, which isn’t very good.

Actually, the movie is among a lot of people’s favorites. It represents a simpler time. It portrays a period, at least in the film, in which good and bad were obvious virtues. George Bailey, the local boy with big dreams who gets trapped running the family business is the good. Mr. Potter the rich, robber baron and slum-lord, who steals control of the bank is the bad.

In the movie, the building and loan survives “the Great Depression” because its management and customers
have character. They stick together because they realize it is in their mutual best interest to do so. They stick
together because it is the right thing to do.

Unfortunately, the movie doesn’t hold up as well in today’s world. The values are different. The George Baileys don’t exist as much anymore. Bank executives don’t give out their own money they had saved for their long awaited honeymoons to their needier
customers. Instead, they take big bonuses while failing to do their jobs.

What about the customers? Are they the same? Recent articles and first hand reports indicate that many customers are threatening to hand back the keys of their houses to banks in order to get reductions on their loan balances or interest rates, even though they can still
afford to pay for their mortgage. Their logic goes something like this: “Why should I pay for my mortgage, when my neighbor isn’t?”

Of course, the absence of character comes at a price. If everyone didn’t pay their bills, then no one would extend credit. It is an obvious
conclusion, isn’t it? Imagine vendors demanding cash payments for every good or service. Some very poor countries operate this way. In
addition, the remaining banks would charge you fees just for the service of protecting your cash.

It is a miserable picture. I don’t believe it will happen. I prefer to believe in the character of people. I prefer to believe that most people are like George Bailey and not Mr. Potter. And, that is what I have experienced in my 20 years in banking.

The “Greatest Generation” adapted to the depression. They sucked it up, didn’t whine and did their best. There was no sense of entitlement. Then they went off to fight a war
against the tyranny of fascism. I know this because I have had the pleasure of being surrounded by several of them over the past years.

I was particularly reminded of that generation after September 11, 2001. I had offered some time earlier to host a party for the Indian Wells Rotary Club on September 12. After the attack, I assumed no one would show up. However, in my shock and dismay I forgot to call everyone to officially cancel.

At 4:30, a half hour before the party was scheduled to start, the doorbell rang. Within 45 minutes, my house was full of people. No one was wallowing in depression. It was business as usual for the primarily over-70 crowd. I went from person to person listening to stories of harrowing salvation from a much harder time. I heard where everyone was on December 7, 1941. I learned of how they responded with their courage and character. And, for the first time since the prior morning I knew everything was going to be
alright.

It is time for our generation to stand up for what is right. It is time for us all to have the character and courage of Tom Brokaw’s “Greatest Generation.” It is time for us to remember the promise and the obligation of the United States of America. It is time because if we don’t we will live in Mr. Potter’s world and not George Bailey’s.

I wish all of you the happiest of holidays and a brighter New Year. And, I would like to say out loud, “Merry Christmas, you miserable old building and loan.”