Lawd, Lawd

They done robbed my bank. That's right. My good friend, Jim Fitzhugh's bank. The venerable, hometown, home-grown, been in business since 1939, friendly, family-oriented, the Bank of Ripley. The one with the slogan "It's All About Chew!" Actually, it is "It's All About You" but "chew" is how it comes across in the commercial. Not the main branch on the square, mind you, or the one next to my friendly employer, but the one down on Washington Street, in the "other" business district. GET OUT! I was in that branch that morning. Promised one of the cashiers information on scholarships. Tried to take my money. I guess he really took the slogan seriously.

I wouldn't have known a thing if it hadn't been for the good folks at Wally World. I don't have the details, yet. You know the newspapers only come out on Wednesdays. Had to go on-line and read the account in Dyersburg's State Gazette. http://www.stategazette.com/story/1285594.html

Now the way it was told to me, he had been caught; the dye-pack had exploded in his car. Said he parked two blocks away rather than in the parking lot. If so, a lot of good that did him.

Let me give you an idea of the area and why it is an easy target for a hold-up. Washington Street is a major thoroughfare leading to Henning and points south, lined with commercial and some residential properties. Here you will find E. W. James (a family-owned grocery store), Ripley HS, the Board of Education, the wrestling center (it's big down here), Sonic, Dairy Queen, and small businesses.

The branch is relatively new. It sits at the entrance to a complex which houses the new UT Martin of Ripley, a house of worship and its school, and a building that I have absolutely no idea as to what its purpose is. A new drive-in or something is under construction. Relatively isolated. Small facility with two/three tellers at any time. Light traffic the few times I've been in, unlike the main branch or the one on Rte. 51, next to my friendly employer. Easy pickings, if you have thieving on your mind.

I'll get back to you on this one as soon as the paper comes out. Lawd, Lawd.