Punk Art Photos: "Still Life, Bank Of America" (x 2) (The Squawker)

 

<Take One: The Squawker>

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It's a weird thing, isn't it, when a piece of your life suddenly disappears? One minute, you're in and out of this building, or that one; you regularly talk with So-and-So, or Such-and-Such; Monday through Friday, you go to Job XYZ, like clockwork. The next....suddenly, you're no longer doing any of these things. Depending on your circumstances, you may give these things a second thought, or maybe not. Like they say...it's a free country.

Such was is the case with these photos here. You're looking at two views of our local Bank of America (BofA) branch, which suddenly, unceremoniously, shut down a couple years ago, without warning. The move didn't affect the Squawker and I, because we'd switched to a different bank, after reading various media reports about BOfA seizing accounts. 

That didn't sit well with us, having experienced run-ins over the years with zombie collectors trying to make good on (presumably) long-dead, long-forgotten debts. But dealing with a private debt collector is different from your local bank, which has the power to hit right where you live -- your account. It doesn't get anymore basic than that.

So we switched, and didn't look back, as the cliche goes. We're happy with our current bank, aside from the odd issue here or there (see: "Life's Little Injustices (Take II): I Feel An Overdraft" for further reference). The BofA building itself has languished unbought and unused since the closure, though it didn't get boarded up until this summer, when Squawker shot these photos.

<Take Two: The Squawker>

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All things considered, seeing a place that marked one of your daily or weekly routines feels weird.  What's happening with the building, I don't know yet, though workmen have been out in force the last few weeks, dutifully doing whatever retrofitting that a new owner might require -- assuming that one is actually on the horizon.

The same abrupt axe fell this summer on our local insurance office, when the owner retired suddenly, after 30- or 35-odd years. Just like that, another reference point disappeared overnight, along the staff we'd dealt with for the decade or so. One employee found the same job with a different agent out of town, a dozen or so miles away. I ran into her at the store, where she briefed me on the relevant details. 

She the owner always planned on retiring, but suddenly brought up the date by a couple years -- illness, reversal of fortune, or strong desire to ride into the sunset, who knows? -- which caught everyone off guard. In any case, one other coworker chose to become an independent agent, and his dad -- who'd come out of retirement to help -- retired again. We were assigned to a different agent, whom I haven't met yet. Due to Corona's incinerator, I'm mainly doing business with him online. We have spoken once or twice, but I don't think we've met.

COVID-19 has shone an interesting light on how banks really operate, including how many consumers are shut out of the system, as The American Prospect reported this spring (see below). An estimated 24.2 million Americans are "underbanked," or operating outside traditional financial networks, while an additional 8.4 million have no bank account. That's an awful lot of people without access to an awful lot of things.

However, while Congress exempted stimulus checks from federal or state debt collection (except for child support), it didn't carve out a similar freedom from private debt collection, leaving recipients at risk from anyone trying to shake them upside down, whether it's a zombie collector, or your friendly neighborhood local bank.

We've seen many variations on this problem in the past, notably 2018, when Bank of America faced a major backlash for freezing customers' accounts over citizenship questions. Whether it reflected general Trump administration xenophobia, at the federal macro level, trickling down to some overzealous local executive looking to move the minute hand, and justify their existence, is hard to say.

Time will tell what happens to our old bank, as the workmen continue doing what they're doing, surrounded by the tools of their trade, and a variety of scaffolding, though I think the ATM machines are finally gone now. I wonder how the former employees we used to see are doing, and whether they've joined the millions struggling for their health, their sanity, and indeed, their basic survival. As for the rest of it, well...what else can I say? Old habits die hard. --The Reckoner

Links To Go (Hurry, Hurry,
The Garnishment Cometh):

The American Prospect:
Your Coronavirus Check Is Coming.

Your Bank Can Grab It:
https://prospect.org/coronavirus/banks-can-grab-stimulus-check-pay-debts/

The Huffington Post:
Bank of America Faces Backlash

After Freezing Accounts Over Citizenship Questions:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bank-of-america-citizenship-question_n_5b88470ae4b0cf7b00339747