No Class Outing

Recently, I went to the bank to make a deposit. The reception area was crowded with about 2 dozen children and some scattered adults seemingly keeping them in an orderly group. I assumed it was a grade-school class trip showing the young students how a bank operates.

Standing in line, I had nostalgic memories of some of my class outings. Then I happened to look up and saw a large sign at a teller’s window--a window that normally wasn’t open for transactions. It said “AFDC Check Cashing Only.” It was the first of the month, and I was amazed to realize that the bank had found it necessary to open a special window to cash “Aid to Families with Dependent Children” government checks, and that the children were just in tow as mothers did their banking.

Things are tougher out there than I thought they were, and I imagine the children I saw will some day have much different nostalgic memories than I do.

GENE COSTER, San Diego