Bill Watson sat behind his desk looking out the window of the Calhoun County Bank. Bill had started off as a teller in the bank 15 years before and now, as he looked out the window, he knew his job as loan officer was about to come to an end.

  First Central Bank had bought out the Calhoun County Bank along with promises that things would remain the same. Calhoun County Bank had always had a policy that the loan officer had the power to make a loan and Bill had always used that power wisely.  In his 7 years as a loan officer he had only made a handful of bad loans and even those were not of a great amount as Bill, though liberal with his loans, was careful to whom he loaned money.   

Once you got on Bill’s good list all you had to do was give him a call telling him how much you wanted, 1500 or less unless you were buying a car or a house, and then come by when it was convenient to sign the papers.  To Bill your word was good enough and your payment record at the bank spoke for you. 

 Now First Central held the purse strings and Bill didn’t have the power to make a loan without it passing through the committee's hands.  No longer was he able to loan money to those who were having a small spot of trouble and just needed a little to get by. 

 Jim Hanson had called him a few hours before and asked if he could borrow 500 to get some parts for his business. Any other time Bill would have said, “Sure just drop by and sign the papers.”  Now Bill had to wait for word from the committee before he could make the loan. Then there would be a pile of papers to be signed, and if Jim needed an extension he would have to have a dang good reason.  Just the fact he was still short would not do it any more. 

 “Welcome to First Central Bank, the bank of the future” was the death knell for Bill who had never worked for anyone but a small town bank.  Already he was mentally packing his office in anticipation of the loss of his job.  Bill didn’t care what the committee said; he was going to give Jim his loan and hope for the best.  If his higher-ups said anything he would point out to them they had told him things were going to stay the same and that all that was going to change was the name on the door. 

 Bill wondered what he was going to tell his wife, they had just bought a house in the country.  After all, with 12 years in the same place you were pretty safe weren't you?  

Bill sat looking out the window of the Calhoun County First Central Bank as the head loan officer, Henry Morgan came through his door and said, "About this loan to Jim Henson…why did you approve it?  You know that is not the way we do business now.  I am afraid that…"