So you want to find out the best way to choose a bank. As we all know, any number of banks in every American city would like your business, and more important, your financial resources. Let’s look at the options for selecting the right institution to manage your hard-earned dollars.
If you have to execute a series of left-hand turns to drive to the bank, whether from your home, place of work, or any other starting point, that is not the bank for you. It would be ideal to reach the bank by a straight shot down the road, but cities don’t seem to be designed that way anymore.
Better to elect a financial institution you can get to by negotiating right-hand turns, the fewer of them the better. Even with a well-planned route, practiced innumerable times, I once suffered an unfortunate incident, though, admittedly, it had nothing to do with driving to or from my bank.
I was en route home from work. Yes, there was a left turn involved, but it was at a light, and all systems were go. I traveled a short distance down what is considered a major thoroughfare in my hometown, then made a right turn. A short distance uphill, then another right, and I was at my house. Time to park.
Plenty of room to park awaited in front of my husband’s car. I was in reverse. All I had to do was put my foot on the brake to be settled into the ideal parking position. By a slight miscalculation, I stepped on the accelerator, instead. Imagine my surprise as I smashed into the car behind me. Imagine my greater surprise, upon pressing with all my might on what I thought was the brake, when I— and the car— became airborne, the hood of my husband’s vehicle serving as a ramp, or launch pad, for my little Honda.
Somehow I landed not far away, in the middle of the intersection, but continued my trajectory until a well-placed curb obstructed further movement. Well placed, indeed, or the force would have propelled me into my neighbor’s living room.
Meanwhile, on the rafters of our garage, my husband was assembling a brand-new roof, using only a textbook and the sense God gave him. (Well, and some tools.) He heard the sound of a crash and glass breaking. Some poor idiot has just had a wreck, he thought.
Then he heard the sound of a car slamming into concrete. “I’ve got to see this,” he said. Imagine his surprise to find not one, but both of the family cars, demolished in front of our house. What to do? Call the insurance company. How to get there? Walk, since we had no other transportation. Luckily the office was not far away.
Perhaps you’ve encountered cracked, uneven sidewalks in your life experience. My hometown is full of them. About midway through our walk to the insurance office, I tripped over a particularly unforgiving slab and fell directly on my face. The injuries were messy.
Now it was time to go to the hospital, but we didn’t have a car, and we couldn’t walk there. A kindly lady called for an ambulance and whoosh! We arrived at the ER in no time. Fortunately we had chosen a good bank for our financial needs, which in the course of ten minutes included the repair of two cars, the cost of an ambulance, and a hospital bill.
And you thought I’d forgotten all about the point of this essay. Banking. I do have one more piece of advice regarding banks. When you drive home from one, don’t park on the street. Park in the garage, if your husband has finished roofing it.
If you have to execute a series of left-hand turns to drive to the bank, whether from your home, place of work, or any other starting point, that is not the bank for you. It would be ideal to reach the bank by a straight shot down the road, but cities don’t seem to be designed that way anymore.
Better to elect a financial institution you can get to by negotiating right-hand turns, the fewer of them the better. Even with a well-planned route, practiced innumerable times, I once suffered an unfortunate incident, though, admittedly, it had nothing to do with driving to or from my bank.
I was en route home from work. Yes, there was a left turn involved, but it was at a light, and all systems were go. I traveled a short distance down what is considered a major thoroughfare in my hometown, then made a right turn. A short distance uphill, then another right, and I was at my house. Time to park.
Plenty of room to park awaited in front of my husband’s car. I was in reverse. All I had to do was put my foot on the brake to be settled into the ideal parking position. By a slight miscalculation, I stepped on the accelerator, instead. Imagine my surprise as I smashed into the car behind me. Imagine my greater surprise, upon pressing with all my might on what I thought was the brake, when I— and the car— became airborne, the hood of my husband’s vehicle serving as a ramp, or launch pad, for my little Honda.
Somehow I landed not far away, in the middle of the intersection, but continued my trajectory until a well-placed curb obstructed further movement. Well placed, indeed, or the force would have propelled me into my neighbor’s living room.
Meanwhile, on the rafters of our garage, my husband was assembling a brand-new roof, using only a textbook and the sense God gave him. (Well, and some tools.) He heard the sound of a crash and glass breaking. Some poor idiot has just had a wreck, he thought.
Then he heard the sound of a car slamming into concrete. “I’ve got to see this,” he said. Imagine his surprise to find not one, but both of the family cars, demolished in front of our house. What to do? Call the insurance company. How to get there? Walk, since we had no other transportation. Luckily the office was not far away.
Perhaps you’ve encountered cracked, uneven sidewalks in your life experience. My hometown is full of them. About midway through our walk to the insurance office, I tripped over a particularly unforgiving slab and fell directly on my face. The injuries were messy.
Now it was time to go to the hospital, but we didn’t have a car, and we couldn’t walk there. A kindly lady called for an ambulance and whoosh! We arrived at the ER in no time. Fortunately we had chosen a good bank for our financial needs, which in the course of ten minutes included the repair of two cars, the cost of an ambulance, and a hospital bill.
And you thought I’d forgotten all about the point of this essay. Banking. I do have one more piece of advice regarding banks. When you drive home from one, don’t park on the street. Park in the garage, if your husband has finished roofing it.