lessons from the teller line

working at a bank has taught me a lot. a whole lot. just doing my everyday duties is like doing a case study on the financial habits of african-americans, caucasians, and indian and arab communities.

and that's where this post comes from.

here's the scenario: a young (maybe 30 years old) indian guy comes in the bank and makes a deposit from the business he owns like he does every day. usually it is between $1,000 and $5,000. we usually talk about the weather and what team is doing good and yadda yadda. but today i was feeling particularly inquisitive and wanted to know what i have to do to be 30 and showing considerable profit in my own business.

me: "you handing out any applications, cause you're clearly having a better day than i am." i smile, of course. always have to have good customer service.

mohinder (yes, like the Heroes character. i always ask him if he caught himself on tv even though i know it is a common name. lol) : "can i tell you something? i want you to remember this. never again ask for an application for a job. jobs are for people who are satisfied with others telling them what to do. instead, ask for advice. ask for a copy of their plan."

this caught my attention seeing as though i was expecting the standard half-laugh and polite smile and in not a real answer.

me: "well then, bring on the advice."

mohinder: "see, people make mistakes in wanting to be rich but not having a plan. people want to work a little and party a lot, and be rich. it doesn't happen this way. if you work really hard for one or two years and party very little, you can achieve this. keep your credit good, and work together. it is much easier to gain wealth together than by yourself. my family and i all worked together. lived in the same house for one year, and after that we all could afford whatever we wanted, and where ever we wanted to live. if you teach your children how to make money instead of how to receive money, you will be happy to see them grow up and do it."

this really got me to thinking. i was sitting there counting his $7,000 deposit and thinking about my own pitiful check stub and i realized he was right. i was never taught the importance of good credit. never saw an example of good money managing. never knew the importance of having a savings account. none of that.

i can't help but notice in my every day work that the lowest bank accounts belong to blacks. that most of the overdrafted accounts belong to young black people. i mean in general, we don't have parents putting money in our accounts on a monthly basis. nor were we taught the importance of saving and keeping our credit tight, until there is some upset creditor calling us 50 times a day.

in my observations, however limited they may be, black people are the only people that don't build wealth as a community and keep it in our community. we are a people of starkly individual mindsets, which is fine in some cases. but when i look around at other races, they do seem to have a more community mindset. and higher bank accounts. even my coworkers, the white ones have inherited businesses or money or some kind of asset to their financial life, like their parents paying for college, or buying them their first car so that they can save their money for college. the indian ones have the same thing, except it is extended to their whole community. the chaldean one, her whole family, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, all live together splitting the mortgage until all of them have a nice car that is paid for, then they branch out.

the only time i've ever witnessed this being done by black families is when i was in school in atlanta. there were several successful married parents that made life a lot easier for their kids in college. not spoiling them, but lessening the load so that they could concentrate on being successful themselves. and they did this all while showing and being good examples of money managing and saving so that their children would learn to do the same. (one of my friends, both of his parents are doctors. living in a beautiful house, they could have easily bought him a car to get around, but they didn't. he had to work and when he saved up enough his father surprised him and matched the money he had. when i asked him about it he said his parents always did things like that to teach him the value of money and the importance of knowing how to save and invest. now, at age 24, my friend owns his own company and OWNS an equally beautiful house of his own, that he had built no less.

all because he was taught right and was offered support. it's amazingly simple and yet we can't seem to get it. i know one thing, my children are going to be okay. i mean, really okay. i guess it starts with one family at a time.


in other news.... okay seriously, there is a new chapter up now on the fiction blog. link to it on your right. please check it out. it was supposed to be up friday, but the stupid editor wouldn't let me post it. then i was busy all weekend and so now...here it is. sorry for the loooooong time in between. promise it will be weekly from now on. if i could just quit everything and write, promise i would. whew!

adios!