Editor: Disabilities come in many forms.
Obviously, physical and mental are the first that come to mind.
But legal and financial are the next two, followed by age, societal stigmas, addictions, or even losing your ID.
Any of these can negatively affect anyone’s life at any time, and knock us out of the game indefinitely.
So I would guess that if the right eyes understood how closing our local bank branch will directly negatively impact 100 per cent of their customers, perhaps they could turn this into a win-win situation for all.
The sign that blew down last week is back up in the Langley Mall parking lot. And it shows a perfect new location for the TD Bank.
It touts, “Location, location, location” and opens next fall right in front of the bank’s current spot.
So TD really doesn’t have to let us all down and make themselves look bad.
One would hope that they could extend the lease for one more year if what they say is true, that they can’t renovate the current spot.
Or maybe they could temporarily relocate to Willowbrook for the interim.
This branch has been great to me and waived many service charges, showing that they are a brand that cares.
So I am sure that once the head bean counter who made the decision to close the branch finds out how sad it is for society to overlook the needs of us “persons with disabilities,” or for us to change banks and endanger our lives commuting to one of the other ones, they will realize how much good publicity this could generate for them.
Then they could be the “persons before profits” brand instead of being perceived as the playground bully picking on the goofy kids with glasses.
The higher than national percentage of us in the area who rent and live below the income per-capita demographic, already struggle with too many challenges, and we do not need one more.
They could then become the bank that cares for us, instead of the one that doesn’t. All it takes is for one of them to commute by mobility scooter to the other location and back, 2.7 kilometres each way, or $5.50 by bus.
Just Like Zosia from the Langley Pos-Abilities Society tries to show: Try on one of our disabilities for a day. But please, wear a helmet if you do. You’re going to need it.
And I am sure that nobody at head office wants to read the story about a Langley person getting run down on the way to cash a cheque.
Danny A. Halmo,
Langley