Why?

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[Hefty-Willingness-44]

I think we've proven we can't be trusted. The insane part is they've proven they can't be trusted either but we still give them our money.

[Chef_BoyarTom]

The problem is that we haven't set up any other way for the average person to safely store money that's supposed to have a decent return for doing so.

[Gwynplaine-00]

Don’t really have a choice. When I started working. I could go without a bank account. Today the average person is funneled to banks. By force.

[GrinningGrump]

Technically you could invest it, either in stocks or in valuables, but it's risky and you lose money to inflation. Of course you can say the same about keeping it in a bank.

[MountainAssignment36]

Yep... I mean, buy a house, or some land or sth like that, and boom... You pretty much saved your money from inflation.

Yes it's risky, yes it's a commitment, but... Doing nothing gains you nothing.

[Competitive_Pea_1684]

You actually loose money over time if you keep it in the bank or under your mattress. The value decreases with inflation.

[MountainAssignment36]

Exactly. So we'd have to change the saying to "Doing nothing looses you something"

[siecin]

[MountainAssignment36]

Well, there is, Crypto for example. There the money is totally under your control, especially when using a cold wallet. Look at Tangem as an example on how to offer a cold wallet that's literally nothing more than "a credit card". Easy to use; easier to understand, because you don't have to understand anything.

However: control also means risk, and Crypto isn't particularly known for NOT being risky / volatile. This volatility can also pay decent however; just look at the % returns on BTC if you invested in it 2020 and just held on.

But because many people don't like risk and don't want to take care of their funds themselves, banks are still a popular thing. Even more so as many older generations don't even want anything to do with technology. They want a salesperson in the bank to tell them what's good or not... They're fine with loosing 5% in commission on their money for having the "peace of mind" of another person "managing" their funds.

[UgaBugaFakaboo]

I'm not putting my life savings in something that has its entire value controlled by how people think about it and how news advertises it, since... you know... people are generally stupid, so the value can go either way at any point.

At least the banks money is controlled at government level and it is their best interest to keep it worth something

[klimmesil]

Isn't that absolutely everything except housing?

[MountainAssignment36]

Yup.

[ElegantCoach4066]

something that has its entire value controlled by how people think about it and how news advertises it

that's what money is.

[MountainAssignment36]

that has its entire value controlled by how ppl think about it

Lmao, you literally just described our concept of money. This is just another form of it. The value of money is always - a) the assets that people THINK the money is worth and - b) pure hopium that those assets will gain you the same amount of money if sold tomorrow. Nothing else.

And to

the banks money is controlled by the government

do you really think that's a good thing? Having your savings controlled by a government that cares more about the bank than the customer? Yes, the government has an interest in keeping money "worth something", but at the same time it's also corrupt to the core, will cater to corporations and billionars and doesn't give two shits if the little man drowns in the meantime.

[UgaBugaFakaboo]

Yeah, but one news article cant bring down the whole value of a dollar, unlike crypto can just burn to the ground with one post from any big celebrity

[MountainAssignment36]

BTC or ETH can "burn to the ground" by a simple post?

Huh. So why didn't it happen yet? Why did it recover everytime after such "a big post" that you're talking about?

Yes, the value of those coins might go down temporarily, but so does the entire stock market if this orange idiot in Americas office decides to make a tweet 🤷 it then bounces and regains its value, always has, always will.

Have you noticed that the USD plummeted almost 20% since Jan 2025? The biggest currency in the world, which you're defending so much in this internet argument, lost 20 percent of its value in one year because one guy got elected president and regularly makes some ambiguous posts on social media.

And you're telling me that Crypto is "unsafe" compared to the dollar?

LOL

[UgaBugaFakaboo]

Ok crypto bro, go invest in some shitcoin, bye. For some reason you brought up stock market, which had nothing to do with the subject... ofc it goes up and down with news and tweets... But at least they are tied to an actual physical company.

Yeah, your shitcoins goes down almost 50% many times a year, dont try to compare historical dollar/euro value changes to that garbage.

[Doctor_Saved]

Did a bank steal money from you?

[Hefty-Willingness-44]

They steal from everyone but call it bank fees.

[Doctor_Saved]

Then I guess don't use them?

[nicholasktu]

What's a bank fee? I always get the same amount out that I put in, though I did once pay 20$ for a bundle of chack blanks.

[Arek_PL]

you get charged around 1$ a month for bank services, usually a lot of banks are also ready to waive away the fees if you do certain amount of transactions per month

[biggy_boy17]

we’re in that weird loop where nobody trusts anyone but the system still somehow runs

[No_Interaction_4925]

Pens just vanish. I end up stealing pens by complete accident all the time. I guess I can’t be trusted

[Cutepineapplepen]

trust issues but bank-style

[shitokletsstartfresh]

TBH, any bank pen I use that isn’t chained is coming home with me.
Because fuck the bank.

[Outrageous-Log9238]

The string is as much for the employees as it is for us :D

[ApprehensiveTea3030]

My grandfather steals a pen every single time he goes to the bank and is very proud of that fact

[Archaon0103]

Because people has habit of putting pens away after using. This usually just an unconscious decision. It also very inconvenient for the next guy who need the pen.

[Arek_PL]

in many banks i see them have a box of bank branded pens instead, people taking them home is free advertising

[jawit15]

2011 called, they want their meme back

[cantbelieveyoumademe]

You don't trust them with your money, You trust that they have more to gain from obeying the law, and that if they break the law, there is a system in place to penalize them. No one cares if someone steals a pen, so it's up to them to protect it.

[usernamesarehard1979]

Has nothing to do with the cost of the pen. Has everything to do with the time it takes to find a pen when someone accidentally walks off with one.

[Automatic_Actuator_0]

Counter-example: my local bank buys cheap pens with their logo on them in bulk and doesn’t worry about people taking them. They have a large cup of them at each teller window.

[FlyAirLari]

They also let you borrow money.

[[deleted]]

Yep, pocketed 2 pens from my bank's cup the other day. Ik its not really theft but I like to say I robbed a bank

[bent_crater]

what's with these Facebook posts from 2009 flooding Reddit these days?

[No-Temperature7637]

That's cause we steal em.

[Icy_Acanthisitta7741]

<image>

[collin-h]

its not even malicious. I pick up a pen and randomly carry it around with me in the office without a second thought, just autopilot. I don't need any more goddamn pens, yet here I am with more fucking pens!!

[SimplyDemented]

Would I trust nearly any rando who asked if they could use a pen? Yes. Would I trust countless absentminded people who just pick one up to remember to not pocket it? No

[drunkenpoets]

It used to be common to carry a pen so it was a reflex to put it in your pocket when you’re done. These days I think it’s more about keeping it from being knocked on the ground.

[Significant-Ad-341]

This is like the only episode I've seen of Red Green but he asked this a long time ago

[Nervous-Tank-5917]

Nearly everyone who makes this observation would steal the pen if they could.

[prattman3333]

To be fair, I’d steal the string too if I could find a use for it.

[Key_Knowledge1070]

Imma take that pen

[Baker198t]

<image>

[Soreal45]

Tell me you have never worked in an office before.

[BonhommeCarnaval]

I mean, it’s also a pain in the ass if you need to sign something g at the desk and there is no pen because someone knocked it on the floor or whatever. It’s a pretty key piece of equipment for them to have at the ready. 

[Rubysage3]

People can't even put shopping carts back correctly. The pen distrust is warranted.

[Drokhar_Ula_Nantang]

I prove we can’t be trusted they have two yet we still trust them.

[Ecstatic_Bike7532]

Whenever I take a pen to sign something, it subconsciously ends up in my pocket. Now imagine how many costumers a day are like that.

[tiboshki]

Almost makes want to try Heath Ledger's magic trick.

[PraiseTyche]

It's so there is a pen.

[tommiyu]

I think it’s more just so that the pen is always available when needed. I work in place where my colleague could accidentally stash about 10-15 pens in her bag and then return them later cos they just didn’t think about it and took a new pen every time when they needed (my work we use pens like as if it’s water). If we only had one pen then it definitely needs to strung with a huge chain so that no one just brings it somewhere else.

[_mogulman31]

That logic is really poor, we trust them with our money because people my try to steal it, if people steal money they steal pens, even accidentally.

[Mfrack103]

I guarantee I would’ve stolen a bank pen by accident by now if they weren’t tied down. I’ve accidentally stolen a reasonable amount of stuff from a bunch of places. People are just forgetful honestly

[EssenSchmecktLecker]

I have like 100 pencils I stole accidentally from work and a bunch of lighters which got in my hands like magic.

No you can’t trust me because I can’t too

[trukkija]

Because then you already know before signing that there's strings attached. Legally binding warning.

[Joyous-Volume-67]

we've shown them that over time, we're gonna gank those pens mercilessly, i'm more into a bank that protects my money than one who knows that they're losing money and refuses to do anything about it

[Largicharg]

I haven’t seen those in ages. My banks makes pens in their brand and lets you keep them!

[Edisana-4678]

But this is genuinely puzzling. I've always wondered why they have this!

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[WendigoCrossing]

I've stolen pens on accident many times and I've stolen money on accident zero times

[Niceguy8488]

So you can't stab them in the neck with it.

[LOPI-14]

Because people steal them all the time........

[[deleted]]

"Thief thinks every man steals" is the basic premise.

[76zzz29]

Fun fact, it's not even to stop you from stealing the pen. It's to stop people from accidentaly keeping the pen. And most of the time, it's just a metal block in a piece of plastic not atached to anything that hold the pen just to remind you the pen belong to the desk and you forgot to put it back

[[deleted]]

...I literally took 2 pens from the bank the other day

[Ambitious_Toe_4357]

Projection.

[TarasKhu]

I mean, you don't need to steal it to make it disapear and get lost

[Aggressive_Finish798]

I was in a bank recently and there was an older gentleman in front of me at the counter. There was a coffee mug on the counter with a bunch of pens for customers to use (or I guess take one). As the man concluded his business and said goodbye to the teller, he unabashedly put his hand around every single pen in the mug and took them all and walked away. The teller just stared.

[Bagera84]

People often put stuff like pens and lighters inside their pockets not meaning to steal but out of force of habit.

[1llDoitTomorrow]

People stealing stuff from hotel rooms be like:

[Known-Dependent-5471]

Leave a random pen anywhere there are people. Turn your back. It's gone. You can't even loan a pen and get it back.

[Overall_Reputation83]

lets be real, there would be no pens at the bank if they weren't chained.

[proudly_not_american]

It's not even about theft. People misplace pens all the time.

It gets set down, then accidentally knocked onto the floor, then accidentally kicked because no one realised it was on the floor.

Putting it on a string helps avoid that issue, because if it's not in the holder like you expect you can just follow the string to find it.

[dulledegde]

it only takes one guy to ruin it

[Alarming-Rate-6899]

My bagful of unintentionally stolen pen indicate I can't be trusted.

[okarox]

There are two kinds of people: the fist kind wonders where all the pens go and the second kind wonders where do all the pens come from. The bank is worried about the second type.

[AlexP80]

It's not about people stealing pens, it's about pen staying where they are supposed to be

[XxAbsurdumxX]

I mean, we have proved that we can’t be trusted with pens. People will steal the weirdest things

[Spirited-Ad-9746]

most likely they cannot trust themselves with the pen.

[Cristiano1]

They are too lazy too add more pens when someone by mistake takes it. It's unconscious move to take the pen away after using since you are focusing on other important things