In 1975, I worked for a progressive
neighborhood bank in Chicago. Like most banks of the era, it projected an image
of quiet professionalism and conservative decorum. Men wore dark suits. Women
dressed accordingly. Everyone behaved as though they had just stepped out of a
Norman Rockwell painting.
Then someone chartered a school bus to a male strip club.
It wasn't a bank
function. It wasn't officially sponsored. It took place after hours, and
everyone was on their own. Tickets were sold in advance, employees invited
their friends, and one Friday evening a yellow school bus—with its lights
flashing and doors folded open—pulled up in front of the bank. Capacity was 40
and all seats were taken.
The passengers ranged from young employees
in their twenties to women who were already grandmothers. Many carried cameras.
And many carried fistfuls of
one-dollar bills.
The destination was Lake Geneva,
Wisconsin, home of the Sugar Shack—one of the few clubs in the area featuring
male entertainers.
What happens in Wisconsin, stays in
Wisconsin.
Not really.
The photographs surfaced a few days later.
Years later, I accepted a position at a growing suburban community bank. During
my interview, the bank president—a man I already knew from a previous bank—looked
me over and smiled."I like your suit," he said. "But we're very
conservative here. The men wear dark-colored suits."
“Not a problem," I replied.
"This gray suit fits the dress code where I work now, but I'll gladly
follow your standards."
I got the job.
About a year later, I noticed
something interesting.
The same bank president who had
insisted on dark business suits had begun wearing Looney Tunes Daffy Duck
neckties.
My gray suit quietly found its way
back into the rotation, and nothing more was ever said.
Bankers have earned a reputation
for being conservative.
In my experience, that reputation
is generally deserved.
But every now and then, beneath
those dark suits and sensible dresses, you'll find a delightful reminder that
bankers are people too.
Just ask the ladies who boarded
that school bus one Friday evening with cameras.
...and fistfuls of one-dollar
bills.
So many Great stories!
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