A friend of mine from childhood was having several difficulties in his life when the bank repo guy took his car a few days before Christmas. All his Christmas presents for his two young children were in the trunk.
I knew the bank president, and called him on the phone. As soon as he answered, I said, “Bah Humbug you Scrooge.” He asked what was wrong, and I explained the situation, saying that the negative publicity for the bank taking this car and children’s Christmas presents right before Christmas would cost the bank more than the value of the car.
He agreed, I gave him some money to get the loan current, and my friend got his car back that same day. The Grinch got a heart that day. (He also knew that the owner of the local radio station and the president of the local newspaper were friends and clients of mine so it would have been easy to get a tear jerker story out.)
Thankfully, that’s how small towns used to work. Not any more.