Social Disease

I hate it when bank employees ask, usually in hushed voice: What is your social?

*

It’s as if, by not asking directly out loud, “What is your Social Security Number?” -that they think this is going prevent a security breach of some sort, from lurkers in the lobby. I noticed this phenomenon starting several years ago, not only with banks, but with other businesses privileged to examine vast amounts of your personal information. It’s like a hive-mind mentality all started at once, unless perhaps some high-level bank manager came down with a decree years ago, with the mindset to ask for ‘your social’ in this peculiar manner, would might exempt them from identity-theft liabilities.

*

It would be interesting to chat with a few folks in the banking industry about this, and to get their takes on it.

Let’s have cleaner money

A few years ago, a Clark County, Nevada investigation showed that a Vegas clinic was not using clean syringe procedures, which over a four-year period contaminated dozens of anesthesia patients with incurable hepatitis C. This seemed odd, especially since Las Vegas is the same city where casinos and hotels often offer to help clean your money. When did we start giving sanitized money a higher priority than we do to medical patients?

For many reasons, our money is one of the filthiest things that we handle. And for years, it’s been a lively topic of local discussion, about how Ketchum has an overabundance of grubby banks. With the new credit card reform laws finally being implemented, it’s interesting to watch how to make up for purported losses; some neighborhood banks are incrementally raising fees for their simple checking and ATM services.

During this shift, bank managers must certainly be keeping a close eye on public reaction. With this in mind, it would be refreshing to see some banks around here, began to offer a new service in the form of disinfecting paper currency and coinage. Besides helping defend locals and tourists from diseases and flu, banks would also be protecting their most precious assets - their dedicated tellers – from nasty germs while handling the dirty money, lessening sick days, etc.

Besides Vegas improving the odds for healthier customers, such purification programs have become popular in a few other countries, such as Japan. A bank around here ‘wishing well’ on its clients in such a courteous manner would stand to profit gainfully and karmatically from this clean advice.