Taking Time to Be Patient and Kind

Yesterday morning I was pondering how much better life would be if people just slowed down a bit to be more patient and kind.
Then in the afternoon I pulled into a gas station for fuel.  Normally I would drive on through to the second pump, so it would be easy for someone to use the first pump, but as I got closer I could see that the second pump was out of order, so I stopped at the first one.

An older woman was behind my pick-up in a little car. She started laying on the horn trying to get me to pull forward.  As I was getting out she tried to cut around me. I gestured for her to open her window, so she rolled it down on my side.  Before I could even explain she remarked, "Well, you are not very bright, are you?" I just smiled and said, "The other pump is out of order." She looked crestfallen. Realizing that it was her that was none too bright, not me, just took the wind out of her sails. No point making her feel any worse so I just said, "You couldn't see it from where you were."

She looked embarrassed and went on about her business.

Pulling My Three Bank Accounts Out of Chase Bank

Today I got a notice from my bank I've long been expecting.  I had two free checking accounts at Wamu and a savings account that got bought out when Wamu folded.  Chase assured me nothing would change and my accounts would be free.  But every time I go in there they hammer me to set up a direct deposit.  Even if I wanted to I couldn't.  If I get ten checks a month they come from ten different places.  That is the nature of the beast when you do freelance work for a living. So I wasn't really surprised when I got a booklet from the bank today explaining how they are going to start charging a monthly service charge of $10 (per account).  There are a few ways to get around it, all which demand $500 per month lump sum of a monthly deposit, or a large minimum daily balance, or some other things that don't apply to me.  I have until Feb. to decide before I start getting dinged with fees. 

The reason I left Bank of America in the first place is that I was sick of paying $120 a year in monthly account fees.

Right now I'm leaning towards Wells Fargo bank. But they also charge a $5. monthly fee.  It's half of Chase so I may go in that direction, and their daily minimum if I want the fee waived is half what Chase requires.

As I was researching banks, I came across something called 'move your money'.  That lead to the video embedded here.  It truly is scary to see how big banks have us in their clutches.  I wonder if there is a small community bank I can trust in the Anaheim area. I've never had a lot of trust in big banks anyway, but I have even less now.  I'm about to start sticking my money under the mattress and hope the building never catches on fire.

One thing is for certain, there is no way I'm staying with Chase.