I love my bank!  I’m dancing with adoration for this place that holds my money for me. They hide it away and probably let me have too easy access to it, but I love them still.  It’s a tiny bank, there’s just one of them in the world as far as I know.  Technically it’s a credit union but I don’t hold that against them.  I had to pay a tiny fee to be a member, but I’m cool with that too.  The bank is located where I work and you have to work there in order to be a member.  If I had to pick a new family, I’d pick the people at that bank.

 The other day, my company didn’t pay me the right amount.  Since everything is done through direct deposit, they had to cut me another check that took a few days to hit the bank.  Whenever I have something put in my account through direct deposit, the bank takes out an allotted amount each check for my car payment.  It doesn’t matter how much or little I get paid, the same amount comes out of each check.  Last night I checked to see if the company paid me the amount they owed me.  I knew how much should have been put it and when I saw that only forty-five dollars was deposited, I was livid.  I already don’t enjoy working where I do and to see that they shorted me yet again threw me into a conniption fit.  Knowing that I had to do something quickly before I had a full-blown temper tantrum, I went to view my check stub online.

 I practiced Lamaze breathing as the page downloaded.  I was ready to spit and cuss and quit my job for shorting me yet again.  Then I saw what happened.  It wasn’t the company’s fault.  It wasn’t the bank’s fault (glorious bank) either.  It was my fault.  I forgot to shut off my car payment.  I made an extra car payment, which I know a lot of people would be happy about, but I was planning on using that money for the electric bill, which is due tomorrow.  I knew what I had to do.  I was going to call the bank and ask them really really nicely if I could unpay my car payment.  I knew it would be a long shot to try to unpay a bill but I was going to give it a try.  It was the only thing keeping me calm this one little shred of hope.  I went to bed almost at peace.

 This morning I called the credit union as soon as they opened at seven.  I explained about the extra check cut to me and that I had forgotten to turn off my car payment.  Then, clearing my throat, I asked if I could have the money back.  There was a pause on the other end of the phone.  I could hear some clicking and tapping of a keyboard.  “Okay, there.  It’s done.  I actually saw that they did that before I left yesterday and was going to call you about it this morning but was going to wait for another hour in case today was one of your days off.  I wanted to let you sleep in.”  Sniff.  Isn’t that sweet?  They let me unpay my car payment.

 In May my husband used his ATM card close to where he works which is a somewhat shady neighborhood.  The bank tried calling him to see why his card was used in that area since it never had been before.  My husband didn’t answer his cell phone so the bank called me instead.  Because he didn’t answer his phone they were now concerned for his life and didn’t care anymore about the money.  The woman on the other end breathlessly explained all of it to me.  I had to stifle back a laugh at her serious concern.  After I told the woman that his cell phone doesn’t get reception in his office and that I knew that he had taken some money out around that area, the woman breathed a sigh of relief and then asked me how my kids were.  I need to find out when her birthday is.

 The best thing this bank has ever done for me I think is probably unheard of.  In 2004 I was laid off from my job and had a car loan through them that was almost paid off.  Since I didn’t have a job, I didn’t have a way of paying back the loan.  I didn’t call them and explain my situation because I was afraid that they would try to set up easier payments which would have been stupid because I didn’t have any money.  I was single at the time so didn’t have a spouse to help me along through life.  My ex-husband didn’t pay child support so I couldn’t have even used that.  I lost my house.  I moved in with my boyfriend (who is now my husband).  But I kept driving that car.  The bank never tried to contact me about that loan.

 In 2006, I was rehired back to my old position at the company.  Now that I had money, I could make that car payment.  I went into the bank with my head hung.  I was embarrassed that it had been a year and a half since my last payment.  The woman in charge of loans listened to my apology and smiled.  “We knew you’d be back,” she said.  She helped me set up the payments to come out of my check like it had been before.  The bank never even tried to contact me to repossess my car.  But do you want to know how long that car stayed on my credit report?  Oh, well…let’s see…it never even made it there.  After defaulting on a loan for a year and a half my credit rating didn’t drop one digit because of that car.  It dropped for plenty of other things, but never that car.

 I love my bank.