These Are "the Good Ole Days!"

ã Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, March 26, 2006

I miss the “good ole days!”

You know, the days when I was a kid and when things were simpler and less stressful.  At the same time, I am one of those people who believes that the “good ole days” are happening “today.”  The “Baby Boom” generation, of which I fall into the first quadrant, has enjoyed more material benefits and conveniences of modern living for a longer period of time than any other generation yet in existence.  While it is true that many of us came from “humble” beginnings, even the very poorest of us enjoy a life-style today that would have been envied by our ancestors.

Many of us, and I confess to being among the “guiltiest”, have come to rely upon the conveniences of modern life.  With the touch of a button, we can enjoy music, watch a full-length movie, dry our hair (all half-dozen of them), prepare dinner, communicate with a friend in Tibet, and do a hundred-thousand other chores and tasks in ways that in the near past would have been perceived as magical by our forbearers.

Among the many conveniences that I have come to enjoy is online banking.

From my desk, I can plug the necessary information into my computer and communicate directly with my bank account at Georgia Bank and Trust, and, again, with the touch of a key, I can dispatch payments of my bills to places ranging from Delaware to Ruthin Castle, Wales.  Using an assigned name and code word and keeping a frequent eye on my account, I can assure that my savings (all $17.87) are secure, at least as secure as most anything can be in today’s world. 

When I press that payment key, computer programs kick-in and my bank account talks to and transfers money to my accounts payable around the globe.  The process is instantaneous and clean.  It works most everywhere.

Most everywhere except, that is, in Calhoun, Georgia!

Over the past couple of months, I have had two accounts to come up late.  The first was my water bill with the City of Calhoun.  The second was my electric bill with the North Georgia Electric Membership Corporation.   In both instances, I immediately checked with my bank and discovered that I had indeed authorized the payments and those payments had been made in a timely fashion.  However, both payments were late!

The reason?

Neither the City of Calhoun nor the North Georgia Electric Membership Corporation has the computer software to accept electronic transfer payments that I initiate from Georgia Bank and Trust!  Such software is expensive, and the two organizations have not felt it expedient to acquire the technology.  As a consequence, Georgia Bank and Trust has to send a paper check via the U. S. Postal Service.  In my two cases, it took the checks 5 days or longer to go less than a mile from the bank to the two offices in question.

I am not even going to start with criticism of the U. S. Postal Service.  It is a lost cause and a joke at best.  It will never be anymore than what it is.  So, I am not going to “flog that dead horse.”

In defense of the City of Calhoun, Mrs. Cathy Harrison, the city administrator, who has borne the wrath of my verbal complaints with great patience and dignity, has indicated that consideration will be given to acquiring the necessary software in the future as improvements and innovations are made in the city’s technological systems.  Additionally, she has been very kind in dropping the late charges.

While I have not received a similar assurance concerning the computer software from the North Georgia Electric Membership Corporation from Miss Teresa with whom I spoke, they, too, have been very understanding and have waived late fees.

Let me say that in dealing with both the City of Calhoun and the North Georgia Electric Membership Corporation, I have been treated with highest level of respect and consideration by the administration and staff.   In an era of impersonal bureaucratic and corporate unconcern, this treatment has been refreshing.

While it is true that both the City of Calhoun and the North Georgia Electric Membership Corporation have the capacity to execute bank drafts from my bank account, that is one modern convenience of which I choose not to avail myself.  Many people use bank drafts with good success; however, one should be aware that when a business, government agency, or a person has open bank draft access to one’s bank account, that draft can be for any amount the drafter chooses to make it.  While I would never anticipate that the City of Calhoun or the North Georgia Electric Membership Corporation would be guilty of fiduciary misconduct, it is just a power that I choose not to give away to them or anyone else.

In the short-term, I am not going to be able to use the Georgia Bank and Trust Online Banking System to pay my water and electric bills.  I will be compelled to make those payments in person.  If I made use of the postal service from where I live in the county, those payments might not get there for a month!  So, at an appropriate time, I will drive into Calhoun and visit the North Georgia Electric Membership Corporation office and the City Hall. 

Come to think of it, my Dad used to do the same thing in the City of Tullahoma, Tennessee, back in the early 1950s.  On Saturday morning (payday was on Friday), he would “go to town” and “pay bills.”  Paying the utilities bills (water and lights) was always on the monthly agenda.  As a little boy, I was allowed to go with him, and, if I was good, I would be treated to a “real” Coca Cola at Mr. Bill Jones’s Farm and Home Market on Jackson Street.

I guess I am back in the “good ole days” after all.