Reptiles

Reptiles
Silly Grins

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Occupython



occupython: [ok-yuh-pahy-thon, -thuhn

 noun

1. a collective group, primarily made up of older people who still have money at this point, spawned from the OWS movement, an angry group that is determined to take action in early November of year 2011 by transferring all of their assets from banks into local credit unions as one way of returning some of the squeeze. 



Photo courtesy of here


Honestly. Just recently, a number of folks with a bank were receiving late fee notices that were obviously 'mistakes'...the kind of calculated mistakes that actually can add up to quite  bit of money for a financial institution when looking at the big picture. Rather than just paying the late fee to avoid the hassle, people were willing to pay to have their mail certified so no one could claim anything was late. 


Which reminds me...


When I was a kid, starting while still in kindergarten, I'd get $1.25 for the week if I'd done all my chores each day, receiving a star on the calendar for the days I'd completed the tasks. I only missed one day. Ever. And that was due to circumstances beyond my control. Other than for that one day, my record was flawless. 

My money used to go into an account I'd set up downtown, when we lived in a house they said was only a few blocks from where his place was. When the bank decided to start charging me for my account, I was horrified. The fee amounted to  a few weeks of my labor, so I went in and closed the account. My love affair with banks ended that day. Only later did I find out that the bank had been trying to do that to Grandma too. She'd always straighten things out with them 'cause she was just stubborn and still needed their services.





Their stagecoach commercials may have been kind of cool, but, in my opinion,  their real policy was shit. I was a kid with maybe less than $10 in my account and they had just taken something that wasn't theirs. I will probably never take a loan from a bank in my lifetime.

Anyway, about that occupython...

Will be interesting to see what form the beast actually takes, how large it grows, and what impact it has. 
(On a side-note, I think I will check out a copy of Atlas Shrugged from the library, some good fiction to balance out Liar's Poker)

Next up, a short story about a 'lunch-lady' in Houston, Texas...



4 comments:

  1. "I'd get $1.25 for the week if I'd done all my chores each day, receiving a star on the calendar for the days I'd completed the tasks."

    I got 5 dollars which would be subtracted from if I missed anything....so I usually ended up with like a buck or something.

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  2. Those first few bucks were big money!

    What is surprising is how much kids get given by their grandparents and various relatives...cash just seems to flow, easy come easy go. A certain amount of work is good training for life, something I have't really seen too much of here, at least in the early stages.

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  3. Oh, I like that plan! I am not sure if personal deposits amount for much for the banks, given how little is left in the hands of we '99%'. I do like the symbolism, and I do like boosting the credit unions.

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  4. Mr. S: It's just one plan out of many that appear to be generated from the OWS movement. People are thinking and coming up with practical ideas... hopefully they'll be taking action. Most of us are in the system and getting out does take some deliberate lifestyle changes, but it can definitely be done. Otherwise, there's no use in complaining... sharing ideas, finding alternatives, are ways of at least leaning in the right direction.

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