fan

Letters From Leton: Let’s Get Rid of Air Conditioning

I think we should get rid of air conditioning. Are you with me?

Now, I suspect I know the answer to that question (after a hot and humid summer).

The question you are thinking (perhaps) is, why would Leton want to get rid of air conditioning?

It is all for Castlewood State Park in Missouri (or what was a Park) on the Meramec River.

You see, in the early 20th Century, the Missouri Pacific River would haul folks (10,000 a weekend) who lived in hot St. Louis (with all of the  summer heat and smoke from factories) to the Meramec River so that they could cool off at the Castlewood Park. The park was open from 1915 to 1940, with its heyday in the 1920’s.

What led to the closing of the park? – Evil Air Conditioning!!

See, with the invention of air conditioning, people could stay in the hot cities, so the desire to travel to a state park to take a dive in water went away.

So I figure if we get rid of  air conditioning, places like Castlewood State Park can reopen, and things can be like they were!

I suspect that the folks reading this and shaking their head “no” to getting rid of air conditioning will doom my idea.

Well I guess we could draw other parallels for getting rid of air conditioning.

Maybe if we get rid of computers and the internet, more folks will buy local goods, and places like Sears, Payless Shoes, and the Limited can re-open.

Maybe if we got rid of direct deposit, online banking, remote deposit, mobile banking, ATMs, and Debit Cards, we could get more folks back into the Bank.

I don’t think those things will happen, so we will need to adapt to a new world of banking and competition and deliver it with superior service and friendliness!

Well, at least we will have air conditioning to keep us cool as we sweat out the details of the future.

– Leton

____________________________________________________________________
“Letters From Leton” is a blog series comprised of the weekly updates that Leton Harding – President, Chairman, and CEO of Powell Valley National Bank, shares with the Bank’s team members. These newsletters are full of uplifting anecdotes and intriguing insights that are applicable beyond the Bank, so we want to share them with you.