Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
What do you think Erin Brockovich did with her two million dollar check?
Dear Matt:
At the end of the movie Erin Brockovich, Erin's boss presents her with a check for "Two Million and No/100s" dollars. She is of course stunned by this genuinely "fat" bonus check. Then the movie ends. My question is: What would be the next step? A stop at her local Bank of America drive-through ATM? If the ATM refused to allow entry of the seven-digit amount, could she instead walk into a nearby Washington Mutual and open up a free checking account? My bank is Wells Fargo, and I believe they allow you to have no more than $100,000 in your account. So what do you think she did with that check?
-- Alicia Mattias, Chula Vista
Imagine, if you will, your local Wells Fargo branch. Every time a million-dollar check comes in the door, the tellers all gather 'round and ooh and aah and show it to everybody in the joint. Well, you and I might, but people who handle money for a living are different from you and me. A mil is just not a big deal. "We see much bigger checks than that every day," says one WF manager. "It's just a piece of paper." Unless it's payable to you, of course. Yes, Erin might have dropped it in the ATM. They're set up to handle big transactions. But I can guarantee you she didn't have it converted into bills so she could go home and wrap herself in two million dead presidents. As much fun as that might be, banks have rules about how much cash they'll give you. None that I tried would disclose what that limit is.
By the way, Wells Fargo was horrified to hear that one of its customers believes they'll only take $100,000 of your money. They'll take every penny you can scrounge up from between the sofa cushions, no limit. You have Wells Fargo confused with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insures bank accounts. They won't insure an account larger than $100,000. A bank that won't take money? Positively un-American.
Here's something you might be interested in.
What do you think Erin Brockovich did with her two million dollar check?
What do you think Erin Brockovich did with her two million dollar check?
Dear Matt:
At the end of the movie Erin Brockovich, Erin's boss presents her with a check for "Two Million and No/100s" dollars. She is of course stunned by this genuinely "fat" bonus check. Then the movie ends. My question is: What would be the next step? A stop at her local Bank of America drive-through ATM? If the ATM refused to allow entry of the seven-digit amount, could she instead walk into a nearby Washington Mutual and open up a free checking account? My bank is Wells Fargo, and I believe they allow you to have no more than $100,000 in your account. So what do you think she did with that check?
-- Alicia Mattias, Chula Vista
Imagine, if you will, your local Wells Fargo branch. Every time a million-dollar check comes in the door, the tellers all gather 'round and ooh and aah and show it to everybody in the joint. Well, you and I might, but people who handle money for a living are different from you and me. A mil is just not a big deal. "We see much bigger checks than that every day," says one WF manager. "It's just a piece of paper." Unless it's payable to you, of course. Yes, Erin might have dropped it in the ATM. They're set up to handle big transactions. But I can guarantee you she didn't have it converted into bills so she could go home and wrap herself in two million dead presidents. As much fun as that might be, banks have rules about how much cash they'll give you. None that I tried would disclose what that limit is.
By the way, Wells Fargo was horrified to hear that one of its customers believes they'll only take $100,000 of your money. They'll take every penny you can scrounge up from between the sofa cushions, no limit. You have Wells Fargo confused with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insures bank accounts. They won't insure an account larger than $100,000. A bank that won't take money? Positively un-American.
Comments