The Good Old Days...

[granny031350]

I too remember the good old days.  I remember talking to a loan officer and giving them the story and being approved not based on credit but on the fact that I had a good job in the community and was a long time resident.  I also remember the day my car broke down and I was soooo mad.  Went to the Ford dealership in the tow truck and drove away my new mini van.  My husband stopped in after work to take care of the paperwork cause I had to get home to get supper for the kids.  LOLOL  wow, the good old days.  I also remember my savings pass book that was put into a machine that typed across the book like an old typewriter.  25 cents a week in christmas club account.  LOLOL 

[Anonymous]

granny, I remember that machine too!!!! LOL

These stories of the good old days, make me think THAT is what the modern day Credit Union is like. It's called 'personalized service'.

(if I'm wrong, don't correct me.)

[haulingthescoreup]

Back in 1973, I went on a 45-day backpacking trip to Europe. Unusually for me, I got my Eurailpass ahead of time, confirmed my plane tickets, and packed. I had planned to go to the bank on the morning of departure to get my traveler's checks. This was long before I had a CC, and for me, this was major planning ahead.

On the morning that I was leaving, I went to go to the bank and found that it was a Hawaii bank holiday. There wasn't a whole hell of a lot I could do, so I climbed on the Braniff, wearing my hiking boots and checking my exterior frame backpack, and settled in for the Honolulu - Baltimore non-stop run. I called my parents from Baltimore, but they really couldn't (or wouldn't) do anything, so I got on the Icelandic Airways plane and went on to Luxembourg, clutching my savings passbook.

Landed in Luxembourg with $14 in cash and my savings passbook, and was rescued by a group of Dutch college students. We took a taxi to the nearest bank with an American-sounding name, which was the Bank of *****. In this palace of marble, they gave me serious stink-eye, but they accepted my passbook and said that they could get me my money in 10 days. I went off with the students to a local campground and live on the mercy of them and Dutch families off for their annual Camping.

I ran out of money pretty quickly, but they all kept me alive until the money finally came in, at which point I treated everyone to multiple rounds. It was a couple of months later that I learned that the Bank of ***** was a Mafia money-laundering institution. But hey, I got my money, learned to trust total strangers, found out about the combination of fresh-baked bread + sweet butter + semi-sweet chocolate, and went road rallying in ancient Citroens, so there you go.

[Anonymous]

OMG!! Hauling! What a fascinating story! Thanks for sharing.

I had a choice when I graduated from H.S. Either a trip to Europe, like you did, with my H.S. Sr. class....or....a new Pontiac GTO.....I opted for the car.

Many times I'd wished I'd taken the trip to Europe with my friends. Live and learn.

Talk about a life experience! you hippy you! LOL.

Just kidding! luv ya honey!

[WhirledPeasPlease]

Awesome story!

I did something similar, on a smaller scale and with a different money issue.  I was just out of college and my best friend and I decided to camp across the US in my 1990 Celica with a 70 lb dog.  We had a great time driving, eating, setting up camp, etc. and made it to Portland (from Indy) w/o any major problems.  We met up with a friend of my friend's and had a great dinner in Eugene one night.  I went to pay the bill and....  DECLINED!  I ran out of money and credit during my care-free cross country camping trip!  Luckily my friend footed the bill for the rest of the trip (we made it home in 4 days, lol) and I paid her back as soon as my direct deposit hit the bank. 

Did I learn my lesson about travelling w/o money?  No.  A few years later I went to a math conference in Pittsburg and did it AGAIN.  I dug around and found a few dollars to put gas in my car to get home.  (Yes, gas was under $1/gallon then.)

I can honestly say that I haven't done anything that irresponsible with (or w/o) money since.  I hope I finally learned a lesson!

[Anonymous]

I remember being with an S&L - until they went belly up.  BUT is was a good experience , pleasant CSRs, the lollipos, even dog biscuts (yes, we took our dogs with us to town).  My bank now is trying to go back to that (yes, Provident) - they may becoming aware that a bank is a bank and the only difference is in how they treat you.  Suprisingly, NavyFed (local branch) were 'idiots' - very matter of fact.  I wanted to move money around before we closed on the house and they were not pleasant about it (until they saw the account balances - especially on the one account)... then they got nice.  Reminded me of Riggs Bank - you were dirt unless you had a million $ with them.  PNC took them over (not much better though).

[Anonymous]

HTSU  I envy you!!!!!

[Anonymous]

I used to go to the 5 and Dime and they had generic checks on the counter. Fill it in and go.

Every store in town had a log book under the counter; put what you wanted on the counter and the clerk or shop owner would write the dollar amount and your name in the book. You paid on Friday.

Best of all, I used to pull up to the full service gas station on my motorcycle and fill it up. I prefered to do my own filling when on my bike. I'd hang up the hose a drive away without paying. On Friday, or whenever, I'd go in the station and tell the owner how much I owed and he took my money with no questions asked.

I bought my first new car with a phone call that I initiated.