They're Federally Insured ... Aren't They?

Stop at the bank √
farmer’s market √
grocery store √
bakery√

Drop off extra egg cartons √
Etc. √
Etc. √
Etc. √

Despite the mundane errands I checked off on yesterday’s list the day sparkled with fun.

It started at the bank. Saturday banking is drive-through only. I joined the line behind three cars at the window. Two additional cars waited in the adjoining lane. When the car directly in front of me pulled up to window, I watched with interest. The license plate read Mississippi. I was curious, “What type of business did these distant travelers plan to conduct here in beautiful downtown Bayfield, WI?”

I soon found out.

When the cash drawer extended out, the driver said a few words to the person behind the glass and quickly deposited two or three bags of strawberries into the drawer. The drawer closed, disappeared, reemerged, and reopened. Again, the driver dropped in several bags of strawberries. The drawer closed once again. These deposits occurred in quick succession until the drawer stayed closed and the car drove away.

“Wow,” I thought, “That is the most unique bank deposit I have ever seen.”

Pulling up to the window I spoke my thought to the employee on duty who was in juicy-good spirits. The adult daughter of a nearby neighbor, she explained that she didn’t have enough freezer space to store her fresh-picked strawberries. A sister volunteered to keep them frozen for her. Now she’d place them temporarily in the bank freezer until she found time to make strawberry jam.

Later I pulled into the Washburn IGA parking lot. I’d been rushing from point to point, errand to errand. Now I’d settle in for the long haul, probably 45 minutes to an hour of grocery shopping.

As I entered the store and paused to collect my shopping cart I exhaled a long, weary sigh. Another woman stood with her back to me reading a sign. She turned and began to laugh. A former t’ai chi chih student of mine, she reached over and gave me a hug saying, “I’ve been sighing all morning.”

It was a tremendously windy day. I responded, “It feels like the wind just blows it right out of you.” We both laughed.

I told her about the blog I’d published the previous day. I’d written that I feel comfortable talking out loud in the middle of the woods though I’m not willing to do so in the middle of the city. Perhaps my previous day’s writing loosened me up. Maybe I felt that my small town community wouldn’t think less of me for abandoning my polite, introverted, self-contained ways. We laughed our way into the store and sailed with glee down the first grocery aisle.

Now back to those strawberries. Since they were deposited in a bank with FDIC insurance up to $250,000 they’re fully insured now. Aren’t they?