When Something is Finally Right in the World - Thank You Bank of America!

Dear President Brian Monaghan,

You did it, Bank of America!  I didn't think you would prove me wrong, but you DID!  I can't tell you how thrilled I am that the "Big Ole' Corporate World of Banking" is actually tossing out a flicker of love to the little guys!

A few days before September 9th--the day my life was going to be forever changed and impeded by the closing down of all Bank of America drive through windows--I quit going to the bank.  It's true.  I bent over backwards to get the deposits made without the kids in tow.  Sometimes I sent the babysitter, sometimes my sister, other times I waited until the work crews were in and I could send my boss to do my job.  *Awkward* My life was moving forward in a very inconvenient way.  But then one day... I was able to leave the kids with someone while I ran errands. I found the courage to walk in the doors of the bank and to face all my teller friends at what had formerly been my favorite banking location.  I was stripped of my banking pride, defeated if you will, but I slapped on a smile despite the internal gloom telling me that I didn't do enough to keep the drive-thrus open.  I didn't do enough to stand up for moms with little kids like me, and the employees at the branch didn't, either.

That's when the friendly teller said, "I haven't seen you!  Did you know that we're able to keep one lane of the drive thru open?  For now, we're only putting ATM's on the 2nd lane over!"

I was so happy, I couldn't believe it - you really proved me wrong!

Today, I had one of my little guys in tow while I was making a deposit.  As I sat at the drive through window having my banking needs met by a friendly & courteous teller (as opposed to a cold & impersonal ATM), I felt that life was as it should be.  I didn't have to disrupt the tranquility of my sleeping child and I could still complete the tasks I needed to, and all the while I gleaned 3 minutes of adult interaction at the teller window. The conversation ended as the employee offered me our usual lollipop at the end of the banking adventure.  I declined the lolly, because my son was sleeping, but  life was fabulous. 

Truly, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you!  My sleeping baby thanks you.  The people who were in line inside the bank thank you that I didn't have an angry toddler screaming in line.  Even though the country seems to be in complete disarray right now, as I drove away from Bank of America this afternoon, I felt nothing short of PEACE and LOVE!  Finally, something is right again in the world!  Gotta love my drive-thru banking!

Miles sleeping in the drive-thru line at the bank, today.

 

 

My gratitude must also be extended to you for two more reasons:

 

• Because you chose to listen to the needs of your customers, I was able to channel my efforts and energy into something more valuable (those underlined words were a link) than picketing outside of your banking institution and scheduling a mass-drive-thru day...which I truthfully was considering.  As strongly as I do feel about the importance of drive-thru banking for young mothers, I am grateful for the time I was able to give to young women in the community who are trying to "Be their Best Selves", instead of exhausting my energy to rally local support and media coverage to save banking drive-thru windows.  
 
• Also, because of my outrage at the original decision you made to close all of the drive thru windows, I found myself unable to sleep one night.  The same fateful night I sent you a scathing letter (click on the underlined "scathing letter" to go to the post) into the cyber-world was ironically the same night I was able to stop a thief in his tracks.  It was about 2:30am.  I couldn't sleep, and amid the fast and furious clickety-clacking of the keyboard at my fingertips, I heard a quick honk from my husband's truck.  When I went to the window to see why he was outside, I pulled on the door handle and realized the house was still locked.  That's when it sank in that it wasn't my husband I was looking at rummaging through our vehicle!  I quickly opened the door, and scared the weebie-ba-jeebies out of the thief when I yelled at him in a morning voice that made me sound like a man, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?!?!?!"  Amid all of the action with the police report and the adrenaline rush, I realized that had I not been awake, the thief would have taken much more from us.  My dad made me sound like a heroine, "Debra Jo:  Blogger & Thwarter of Thieves!"  But, truthfully, if I didn't have something worth blogging about, I may have ended up jipped of drive-thru banking services, AND hundreds of dollars worth of work supplies & tools that had been in my husband's vehicle on that particular night.  So, thank you for the outrage, I guess - and thank you for fixing it, too! 

Once Again a Happy & Loyal Customer,

Debra Jo