The bank that closed here last week was a community bank. It was staffed by island residents and friends we all knew who, while being paid a pittance compared to their corporate overlords, gave great customer service and often helped bank customers navigate around the sometimes mindless and often unreasonable and uncaring rules and regulations of this bank’s callous overseers. This local bank will be missed.

In my opinion the corporation that closed this bank represents the worst in US capitalist arrogance and greed — billionaires serving millionaires. To get a good idea exactly how much these self-serving individuals care about this island’s customers, notice the kiosk they left us in place of a bank. Notice how it offers no shelter and faces directly into oncoming foul weather.

A perfect metaphor to remember the next time we taxpayers are asked to bail out a corporation supposedly too big to allow them to fail. I don’t think so. It’s time we let them stand out in the weather.

— Steve Sussman