I'm a Wells Fargo customer, and yes I'm ashamed. I decided to go to the bank a couple of days ago and stood in line in a very overcrowded branch in Southern California. Finally my turn came, I asked for my money and waited while my teller processed the request. A teller next to her, started hollering at an older man who was trying to take a few cookies at a table behind me. Evidently they had a promotion going, so they had cookies, frisbees and other promotional items sitting out.

Well, according to the teller, it wasn't for the customers. She was rude and condescending to the older man and I was shocked. First of all, Wells Fargo took about $25 billion in TARP money; I don't care if it was shoved down their throats, but for the teller to be so rude about some stale cookies, well it just baffled me! She then turns to my teller and says "Aren't they so rude? They just walk in and start taking everything!". I looked at her disgusted. I thought to myself - That reminds me of your CEO, who just took $25 billion of our tax payer money. So as far as I'm concerned, we paid for those cookies! Why would you have a table full of promotional items and not expect for the customers to think it was for them? They should be paying us to come in! My teller made a comment about how it reminded her of her husband and the rest is history...

My problem with all of these large corporations is simple- don't bite the hand that bails you out! I'm looking for a new bank now. Just like I will NEVER buy a GM product if I can help it! GM is coming out with a new electric vehicle. Guess what? So is Honda. I may not be wealthy, I may not be powerful. But I can choose where I spend my money.

CA Companies with TARP Money (USA Today)

Wells Fargo & Company	San Francisco	CA	25,000,000,000
City National Corporation	Beverly Hills	CA	400,000,000
East West Bancorp	Pasadena	CA	306,546,000
UCBH Holdings, Inc.	San Francisco	CA	298,737,000
Cathay General Bancorp	Los Angeles	CA	258,000,000
SVB Financial Group	Santa Clara	CA	235,000,000
Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC#	Santa Ana	CA	195,000,000
Pacific Capital Bancorp	Santa Barbara	CA	180,634,000
CVB Financial Corp	Ontario	CA	130,000,000
Westamerica Bancorporation	San Rafael	CA	83,726,000
Nara Bancorp, Inc.	Los Angeles	CA	67,000,000
Wilshire Bancorp, Inc.	Los Angeles	CA	62,158,000
Center Financial Corporation	Los Angeles	CA	55,000,000
Exchange Bank	Santa Rosa	CA	43,000,000
Heritage Commerce Corp.	San Jose	CA	40,000,000
Bank of Marin Bancorp	Novato	CA	28,000,000
First California Financial Group, Inc	Westlake Village	CA	25,000,000
Bridge Capital Holdings	San Jose	CA	23,864,000
Heritage Oaks Bancorp	Paso Robles	CA	21,000,000
First PacTrust Bancorp, Inc.	Chula Vista	CA	19,300,000
First Northern Community Bancorp	Dixon	CA	17,390,000
Bank of Commerce Holdings	Redding	CA	17,000,000
Pacific City Finacial Corporation	Los Angeles	CA	16,200,000
Community West Bancshares	Goleta	CA	15,600,000
Oak Valley Bancorp	Oakdale	CA	13,500,000
Plumas Bancorp	Quincy	CA	11,949,000
Pacific Coast Bankers' Bancshares	San Francisco	CA	11,600,000
Citizens Bancorp	Nevada City	CA	10,400,000
NCAL Bancorp	Los Angeles	CA	10,000,000
Broadway Financial Corporation	Los Angeles	CA	9,000,000
United American Bank	San Mateo	CA	8,700,000
Sonoma Valley Bancorp	Sonoma	CA	8,653,000
Summit State Bank	Santa Rosa	CA	8,500,000
Valley Commerce Bancorp	Visalia	CA	7,700,000
Western Community Bancshares, Inc.	Palm Desert	CA	7,290,000
Central Valley Community Bancorp	Fresno	CA	7,000,000
Security California Bancorp	Riverside	CA	6,815,000
Peninsula Bank Holding Co.	Palo Alto	CA	6,000,000
Beach Business Bank	Manhattan Beach	CA	6,000,000
ICB Financial	Ontario	CA	6,000,000
Security Business Bancorp	San Diego	CA	5,803,000
Mission Valley Bancorp	Sun Valley	CA	5,500,000
Valley Community Bank	Pleasanton	CA	5,500,000
The Private Bank of California	Los Angeles	CA	5,450,000
Mission Community Bancorp	San Luis Obispo	CA	5,116,000
Commerce National Bank	Newport Beach	CA	5,000,000
1st Enterprise Bank	Los Angeles	CA	4,400,000
Pacific Coast National Bancorp	San Clemente	CA	4,120,000
Pacific Commerce Bank	Los Angeles	CA	4,060,000
Santa Lucia Bancorp	Atascadero	CA	4,000,000
Premier Service Bank	Riverside	CA	4,000,000
California Bank of Commerce	Lafayette	CA	4,000,000
Redwood Capital Bancorp	Eureka	CA	3,800,000
Santa Clara Valley Bank, N.A.	Santa Paula	CA	2,900,000
US Metro Bank	Garden Grove	CA	2,861,000
Community 1st Bank	Roseville	CA	2,550,000
First Business Bank, N.A.	San Diego	CA	2,211,000
First Choice Bank	Cerritos	CA	2,200,000
Ojai Community Bank	Ojai	CA	2,080,000
Seacoast Commerce Bank	Chula Vista	CA	1,800,000
Community Bank of the Bay	Oakland	CA	1,747,000
Manhattan Bancorp	El Segundo	CA	1,700,000
Saigon National Bank	Westminster	CA	1,549,000
Commonwealth Business Bank	Los Angeles	CA	770,100
First ULB Corp.	Oakland	CA	490,000
CalWest Bancorp	Rancho Santa Margarita	CA	465,600
California Oaks State Bank	Thousand Oaks	CA	330,000
Fresno First Bank	Fresno	CA	196,800