Tom and his matress

What do the following have in common.

PNC, Shamrock, Iberia, Third Fifth ??

Struggling ???

Okay slightly easier....the above are the same as the following

Sun Trust, State Trust, First State...

Still struggling ?

Then try

BoA , Wachovia , Northern Trust and Citibank...

Yup they are all banks. Iberia Bank ?? I'm going to google this puppy. One second.

http://www.iberiabank.com/

Mmmmm...tenuous to say the least. Shamrock Bank ? Lets google that one. I wonder if they promise not have you clover if you bank with them. ( boom boom...grooan )

http://www.shamrockbankfl.com/

More banks than the Mississippi. Everyone it seems wants to lend. And why not. Set up your own bank. Borrow from the Federal Reserve at 0 to 1% and lend to some unsuspecting alligator farmer to buy a house at 4-5%. I wonder if any of these banks would be interested in punting FX.

After getting mangled on Friday night I awoke on Saturday to the realisation that I had caught a taxi home ( Captain Sensible ) and would now have to go and get my car which was still parked on Naples High Street. Given the size of my headache I decided to walk to clear my head. Along the way I passed a car yard on Davis Boulevard whose main advertising board read as follows

"" Got bad credit rating ? Don't worry, we lend to you ''''


Moments later I passed Badcock & More ( honestly that is their name !..http://www.badcock.com ) who were advertising free in house credit. Failure to meet your free credit requirements and you get slugged with 24% per annum. Nice. So past the car yard and sofa shop and the next establishment was Capital Pawn (http://www.capitalpawn.com/). Moments later I walked past a Salvation Army shop and there were 74 people lined up outside waiting for it to open ( it was 8.25 am ) . So I asked Tom who was about 74th in line what he was waiting for.

Tom -'' I heard they had taken in delivery of some matresses yesterday and were selling them for a dollar apiece''


Nick - '' How many are they selling ? ''


Tom - '' No idea''


Nick - '' What if it's only a dozen ? Given you are 74th in line that may not yield you much success ?? ''


Tom - '' What else am I going to do today ?

Two things struck me. One. Everyone in the line was either Caucasian or Hispanic. No African Americans. Two. Most of them appeared to have driven there.

So I continued my walk with my hangover for company and the irony of what I had just seen still reverberating in my mind.

You go to the car yard to buy the car with your shite credit rating to enable you to take home the sofa you purchased on free credit and when it all goes pear shaped you pawn your car and sofa and take up position in the Salvation Army line.

God bless America.