Something we all must deal with is change. All kinds of things change over the years: our bodies, our cities and towns, the landscape, and laws. One change that is particularly difficult to deal with is changes in language. They seem to happen so fast these days that it’s difficult to keep up. Today, I’m going to talk about a phrase most of you thought you knew the meaning of- bank robber.

We all know about the famous bank robbers, unless you’ve been hiding under a rock or are a member of Generation X or younger and have had your face glued to a screen since birth. Yes, Billie the Kid, Bonnie and Clyde, Baby Faced Nelson, and John Dillinger, one of the most prolific of all, are common to our shared knowledge of history.

There are many tales surrounding these desperados. Blazing guns, murders, charity for the poor, and violent ends at young ages are all part of the mystique surrounding these bank robbers of the past. True or not, they make an interesting read, but those days are mostly over. The cameras and other technology have pretty much put an end to anyone who would follow in their footsteps.

My daughter had to handle one of these latecomers when she was a teller at a bank a couple of decades ago. The robber came to her window, pulled a gun and passed a note asking for all of her cash. Her reply was priceless: “Do you want change with that?”

He was taken aback but managed to get it together to score a pitiful amount of cash compared to the hauls of previous bank robbers before he ran out the door and escaped on a bicycle. The escape was only temporary. That’s why we don’t see many bank robbers these days.

The one bank robber we will see is coming soon to a bank near you. They will be well dressed and carry no weapons. With the economy in such bad shape and many banks either failing or on the brink, our leaders were sweating knowing that another bail-out of banks as happened back in 2007-8 would be totally unacceptable. They understood that if it were attempted, the torches and pitchforks would come out. To circumvent this conundrum, they devised a new plan called the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Doesn’t that name just drip with even handed language that will protect the average consumer?

Now, we must remember that in 2008, the bank failures had nothing to do with us, the depositors and taxpayers. It was due to mismanagement, bad investments, and too much money for manager’s salaries. This brings me to a question I would like to ask my readers. If someone came to your door and said you had to pay everything you had in your bank account to a creditor of Joe Schmo who doesn’t even live in your state because he bought a 10-bedroom house he couldn’t afford and is going bankrupt if you and everyone else don’t help, what would you say?

Whoa! Even before I have published this piece, your answers have come through the space/time continuum and knocked me over. Yes, Joe Schmo must pay his own debts or suffer the consequences. And Harry, cool it with the curse words.

Well, this is a similar situation that is planned for us in the event of bank failures. They call it a Bail-in, which is a nice way of saying Bank Robbery. It’s all legal and yes, there are limits. However, we all know what happens to limits. They suddenly get changed. Besides, most don’t realize it, but the FDIC is extremely low on funds and won’t be able to replace our lost money when there is a major failure with several banks at a time. The upside of this is that you will be given a piece of paper that proclaims you own a couple of shares out of a couple of million shares of a failed enterprise. Doesn’t that make you feel good?  

Now you know the new meaning attached to the term Bank Robber. We now can go two ways with the meaning of this term. Bank Robber, a person who robs banks, or a bank that robs its customers. Doesn’t this make you feel confident in our financial system?

Thank you all who read my latest poem and those who read and comment on my rants. My poem has a lot of reads and that makes me feel good. When I feel good, I write more so please share. My work is free with no commercials, and I don’t collect your information to sell to scammers. Have a good week!