Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Banker

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Banker: noun – a chiseller, selfish user, cheat, liar, destroyer of worlds, wanker (of course), greedy pig, money worshipper, materialist, …. I’m sure you can add your own to this list of synonyms; please do.

‘The banker promised to do the best he could for the customer but discovered that this would be inconvenient for him, so helped himself instead.’

‘Counting his customers’ money, the banker decided he had more right to it than the lawful owners, so devised sophisticated methods to rob them of it.’

‘Advising his customer to take out the low interest mortgage, because it was cheaper than that offered by the opposition, the banker smiled as he slapped on an unjustified and swingeing handling fee that was mentioned only within the fourth paragraph of the nineteenth page of the small print.’

‘The customer didn’t want or need Payment Protection Insurance, but the banker included it in the loan anyway, knowing that most customers would either not notice or be too lazy or intimidated to demand its removal.’

‘When I asked the banker whether the Payment Protection Insurance would apply at once in the event of redundancy or sickness, she assured me this was the case. However, when I was made redundant a short while later, I learned that the PPI would not become effective until I had been out of work for 6 months.’

‘The banker promised the government that he would lend money, at reasonable rates, to any viable small business that applied for it, but he made the process so difficult and costly that very few felt it was worth their while.’

‘When bonus time came around, the banker decided that normal rules - requiring some evidence of achievement, success or extraordinary effort to serve his customers – would not apply to those in the banking industry, so they paid everyone above a certain level of seniority excessive sums regardless of performance, and all the bankers were happy.’

I know this is an extra; but, hearing the news about mortgage lending schemes with small print and excessive handling charges, I just had to have my say.

Fame or Fortune ... Which Would You Prefer?

Fame or fortune? Both? Or neither?

A contribution to the Blog-a-Licious Blog Tour

It’s a common idea that we all seek either or both of these qualities in our lives. But is it something we’d really want? We take for granted the benefits of such qualities but tend to ignore the downside. Is there one? Well, when it comes to fame, I don’t know about you, but I’d hate to be recognised everywhere I went. How could I listen in to those delightful and intriguing snippets of conversation that inform my writing, if I was recognised as a writer? In fact, I kept my craft secret even from colleagues at work until I had Breaking Faith published and needed to market the novel. The idea of mob love doesn’t appeal to me at all, either. I’m happy with the real love of those around me; those I know and love. So, fame is definitely not for me.

But (and, as they say, it’s a big butt), I DO want my work to be famous. I want it to reach the largest possible readership because I believe that what I write is worth reading. Otherwise, I wouldn’t do it, would I? It’s one of the reasons I use a pen name. I can walk into any shop, hotel, restaurant or wherever, use my own name and know I won’t be known. But, when the world recognises my genius (yes, it’s possible I’ll be dead by then, I know.) my writing name will be universally known, respected and admired. (For the Americans amongst my readers, I should perhaps explain that I’m employing irony here. We Brits have the irritating conviction that most Americans have no understanding of irony and don’t recognise it, you see).

So, fame for my work, but not for me, thanks.

And fortune?

Money has never really had a hold over me; not in quantity. But, then, I’ve never had a lot of money, so I have no experience of its supposed benefits. I look at the rich around me and in the media and see how shallow and selfish many of them are. I see how they have lost their knowledge of the real world; those who had such knowledge in the first case, that is. I see how their love of materialism and wealth has ruled and governed their lives and their choices and I feel little admiration and a great deal of distaste. Oh, I know some of them are generous with donations to charities and the like. But it makes me wonder, when a rich celebrity makes a plea to raise a certain sum for a specific project to alleviate suffering, why they don’t simply donate it themselves. It so frequently has the appearance of someone trying to look good rather than actually be good. I hold a belief that, as we should have a minimum income for all worldwide, we should also have a maximum income for all. It is inequalities in society that cause most discontent and the wider they are the greater that dissatisfaction.

So, yes, I’d like enough money to be able to live the relatively simple lifestyle I espouse and to give my daughter a good start in life. But I don’t crave the sort of fortune that distorts an individual’s view of the world to such an extent that they no longer understand the lot of most people.

Sorry, this has become rather serious, hasn’t it? My passions sometimes run away with me. I’m sure you’ll find a lighter touch in the other contributions to this blog tour. So move on to the next and enjoy the tour.

Thanks for your time and bruised ears. I’ll take my soap box away now and find another crowd to harangue.

Other blogs are here:

1. Debbie – http://www.scatteredmusings.net  
2. David – http://blog.elenchera.com  
3. Stuart – http://stuartaken.blogspot.com/  (you are here)
4. Dilman – http://dilmandila.blogspot.com 
5. Dora – http://peacefrompieces.blogspot.com/
6. Reiza – http://gin-diary.blogspot.com/ 
7. Shelley – http://bookfare.blogspot.com/
8. Jessica – http://authorjess.blogspot.com
9. Sulekha – http://invinciblewoman.sulekha.com/blog/posts.htm

10. Janu – http://janukulkarni.blogspot.com
11. Debra – http://englishepochs.blogspot.com/
12. Dora – http://blogaliciousblogs.blogspot.com/