Money Really is a Laughing Matter

Lynella Grant

Visit a Bank that Gives it All Away
There’s a new-fangled financial organization in town—but this one doesn’t keep accounts or bounce checks. It has a quirky attitude about what to do with money. Take it! Help yourself! No strings, no fine print, no payback. This eccentric bank insists on a “withdrawal only policy.” Instead of putting money into the bank, deposit it into other people (and their dreams).

The Joyful Banker http://www.joyfulbanker.com is a fool-service non-bank—a parody of all things financial. Unlike a normal bank, it has no limits on how much a person can withdraw (how about unlimited?). The coin of the realm is joy and upbeat energy. Its unorthodox point of view skewers conventional assumptions about money.

What’s valuable? What is enough? True riches come from connecting with each other. There’s cold comfort with cold, hard cash. The Banker’s currency, by contrast, is heart- warming.

Notice the spelling of WEalth. It has WE (more than one person) in it. But MEalth (just one person) is a shrinking (shirking) asset. That’s an example of frivel, the silly wordplay woven through the website.

The Banker’s Funny Munny is Joy Bucks and Binkle Bucks
Joyful Banker puts people ahead of assets. It cares more about a person’s caring history than their credit history. So it counters the seriousness of finances with fun. Joy bucks are about emotions. Binkle bucks are about up-beat energy.

The “binkle” is the energy you feel when you really connect with someone, nature, or whatever inspires you (even yourself). Consider a binkle as the antidote for stress, since each tiny surge replaces the energy drains that otherwise deplete us. This unpredictable website is dedicated to bringing more binkle energy into everyday life. So it serves up binkles in all sorts of amusing ways.

As with any parody, it starts from the familiar. It just ends up in a different place, a different point of view. For example, FDIC at Joyful Banker stands for: Forever Delivering Incredible Caring (not a government agency or policy). It defines liabilities as the ability to tell lies (nothing to brag about). Or, Trusts are the legal folderol to tie up money (and other stuff) so certain people can’t get their hands on it. Which isn’t very trusting.

Stir in a generous helping of silliness and wordplay and the website lives up to its claim to be the funnest, most joyous bank in the whole world. It creates bogus financial documents and funny munny. But the Comptroller of the Currency (U.S. Treasury Department) has determined that they are not counterfeit money. (That’s true.)

But mostly The Joyful Banker wants to give visitors a time out from the humdrum events of the day. So when you’re feeling short of money, or short of energy, or fun-depleted—it’s time to visit the Joyful Banker.

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   Lynella Grant   Visit the Joyful Banker, a parody of all things financial   http://www.joyfulbanker.com, the funnest, most joyous fool-service non-bank in the world. With unlimited withdrawals and a help yourself to the open vault policy. Off the Page Press P.O. Box 4880 Buena Vista, CO 81211 USA
(719)395-9450    mailto:banker@joyfulbanker.com _____________________ Copyright © 2005, Off the Page Press
The Joyful Banker - A Parody of all things Financial
Off the Page Press
    (719) 395-9450  fax (719) 395-9453
P.O. Box 4880,  Buena Vista, Colorado  81211 USA
http://www.joyfulbanker.com   editor@joyfulbanker.com