What Is The Harm In Being Kind?

On May 28th at 10:30 I was in the downtown Seattle Bank of America on Union Street. A homeless man who clearly banked there very politely asked for his balance. He was rudely told that he had no money. He looked confused and asked again. I was very aware that there were few people in the bank and that the clients (10) were likely to be able to be served individually as there were about 10 employees. There was one teller at the window.

A few employees, all seeming to be in their twenties and early 30's, surrounded him, smirking and poking fun at him. He asked for someone to write his balance down. It's negative!", he was told. The gentleman, who was always polite, became very agitated.

A faceless voice from the back yelled, "Get your ass out of here before I kick you out." This voice then appeared in the form of the bank manager, repeating the statement.

By this time, about nine employees had surrounded him, jeering and yelling at him. The man grabbed his things and left as the group of employees broke into raucous laughter.

I went to them immediately. "May I help you, ma'am?"; in a second, the jeering clerk became polite. I then asked why this group was laughing. Another man told me, "he has a balance of -$1000." My response was that it was inappropriate for bank staff to violate his rights to privacy simply because he has no home. Told that I did not understand how disruptive the homeless man was on a daily basis, I asked "What is the harm in treating him kindly, giving him his balance, a cup of coffee?" "But for the grace of God, any of us could be homeless in this economy", I continued. "And at the rate that banks are being taken over, all of you are just two paychecks from the street. So what does it hurt to be kind to this man who clearly has problems and who was only asking for help?"

One of the bank employees thanked me, stating that they needed to be "called out", on their behavior. The others, including the bank manager, walked away from me. While I certainly understand that downtown banks do have problems with homeless clients, cruelty is inexcusable at any time, always, ever. This is, however, a teachable moment. I would like for several things to happen:

1. If you are so moved, write letters to CEO and President of the Bank of America, Ken D. Lewis, asking that sensitivity training be made mandatory for bank staff and that this particular homeless man be given an apology. CEO and President, Kenneth D. Lewis, 100 Tyron Street, Charlotte, NC 28255; ken.d.lewis@bankofamerica.com

2. Those of you involved in local compassionate services can offer them to the branch near you so that Bank of America staff can better deal with their fears.

3. Watch this video from ABC News in which the granddaughter of the B of A founder notes her concern that those running the bank have lost their values. Those lost values may have trickled down.

abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=7145404

4. Send this to your friends to further spark a letter writing campaign

This issue has since been positively resolved! The bank president and board chair's representative's called me several times to discuss what I had observed and promised to review the matter. While I will not know the outcome, I was pleased with this result.