Musings from the CU Suite

Originally published on CUInsight.com.

Written by Anthony Demangone

“Strange. Dan is supposed to be flying,” I thought to myself.

The Dan I reference is Dan Berger, NAFCU’s CEO. And yes, he was flying. Flying to speak to a group of credit unions in California.

Dan had just watched “The Big Short,” and he wanted everyone at NAFCU to experience what he saw. So we scheduled a time, and ordered some pizzas.

Over the lunch hour, and a wee bit more, we all watched the movie.

Before it started, Dan addressed us as a group.

The book, The Big Short, documented the mortgage crisis. But it was fairly long. And at times, fairly dense.

The movie, however, simplified complicated concepts and did a terrifying job of showing the greed, corruption, and fraud perpetrated on the American people by Wall Street.

He wanted us to soak it in. And remember who we worked for.

For you.

For the men and women in our industry who wear the white hat.

So, we sat. And we watched. There were laughs. But quite a few gasps.

After, one of my colleagues approached to say thanks.

“I thought I knew what happened, but I think I forgot how bad it was. How bad people were treated,” she said.

It was a good reminder.

And after the movie, I received an email from one of my colleagues who wasn’t in the office when we showed the movie. Her email said the following.

“The movie must have worked, because I received a few emails saying…now I understand why we’re so passionate about credit unions…now I get it! And another that said, I’ll always do my loans with a credit union.”

So, from all of us at NAFCU to all of you…thanks for what you do. And for what you don’t do.