ALEX CHADWICK, host:
This is Day to Day. I'm Alex Chadwick.
MADELEINE BRAND, host:
I'm Madeleine Brand. In a few minutes, how Americans and the Dutch get very different care for the same disease.
CHADWICK: First, today, three days after the federal government took over IndyMac Bank, three days after depositors were told their money is safe and insured, customers are still lining up outside branch offices before dawn.
BRAND: And Alex and I went to one of those branches early today, before the show, to find out why.
BRAND: I'm standing outside an IndyMac Bank branch in Santa Monica, California. There are more than a dozen people lined up here at seven o'clock in the morning. There's a poster on the window that these customers can see. It says the number one savings and loan in Los Angeles. No one here believes that anymore, as IndyMac has gone under and it's now under federal oversight. The people here are waiting to take their money out and to get some answers. And what's your name?
Ms. JOYCE RIOS (IndyMac Customer): Joyce Rios (ph).
BRAND: And you're here to do what?
Ms. RIOS: Withdraw my money.
BRAND: Withdraw your money. What kinds of questions do you want answered?
Ms. RIOS: Well I just - mine is in a trust, and I want to know how much I'm really insured for, because it's over 100,000 you know, and I haven't been able to get any answers. When I called on Friday, the number they gave us, the guy that answered the phone said that I would get a call on Monday morning at eight o'clock. When I called back at 8:30 they said, oh no, we didn't have you down. So the next time that they had an appointment for me was next Wednesday, and I didn't really feel comfortable waiting till next Wednesday.
BRAND: Do you have any idea how much money you have in your account?
Ms. RIOS: I've lost some money, I'm sure, I don't know. I have no idea. I have no idea. That's what I need to find out. And I'm very uncomfortable with the whole banking system right now and everything else, you know, and I'm probably going to pay off my house this week because I don't want to deal with this anymore; it's become too uncomfortable. I don't understand our government, I don't understand how it got this way, and I'm really not very happy with what it is. It's pretty sad. You don't work all your life, and I'm retired, to have it all go away in, you know, just by the blink of an eye, and the people at the top think there's nothing really going on. So let me start it on that. That's it. I'm done.
(Soundbite of laughter)
BRAND: All right, thank you, thank you.
Ms. RIOS: You're very welcome.
BRAND: Thank you. And can I get your name?
JERRY (IndyMac Customer): Jerry.
BRAND: And what do you do for a living?
JERRY: I'm unemployed right now.
BRAND: So what time did you get here today?
JERRY: Four-thirty.
BRAND: Four-thirty?
JERRY: Yes.
BRAND: And you brought your own lunch here?
JERRY: That's right.
BRAND: So are you prepared to hear the news that maybe you lost some money?
JERRY: No. I hope something's going to happen. I think that's really a travesty if anybody loses any money. And this was supposed to be the safest place for people to put their, you know, money that we have worked so hard for so long. I talked to one of the officers of the bank a few months ago, right after the bad news came for Countrywide, and they said they had a hundred billion in reserve. And then, all of a sudden, they come and just close the door, and that's just not right. Somebody was not doing their job; that's just my feeling.
BRAND: Well, thank you, and good luck. What's your name?
SHOLA (IndyMac Customer): Shola (ph).
BRAND: So, you're here today to find out what happened to your 100,000 dollars?
SHOLA: More than 100,000 dollars.
BRAND: More than 100,000 dollars and to find that it's...
SHOLA: Which is a lifetime saving. You know, I'm an older person, this is the money that I was planning to live on.
BRAND: So you know that the FDIC doesn't guarantee deposits above 100,000 dollars.
SHOLA: That's what I've heard. I hope that they will reconsider, because people trust, and I think, when you're not taught, and you trust with everything that you have, other people will feel very agitated, and all the banks have to protect them. Banks have to protect each other, because I'm sure people who will hear my story, they will be very agitated about whatever bank that they deal with.
BRAND: Well, thank you very much.
SHOLA: You're welcome.
BRAND: And best of luck to you.
SHOLA: You're welcome. Thank you.
(Soundbite of song "California Dreaming")
MAMAS AND THE PAPAS (Singing): California dreaming, on such a winter's day.
CHADWICK: Sidewalk nightmares for banking customers. That's just one example of how all of us are affected by what is happening in today's economy.
BRAND: We're exploring the country's economic downturn in a summer series we're calling "California Dreaming." We have a blog where anyone, not just Californians, anyone, can share their economic dreams, fulfilled or dashed.
CHADWICK: So, are you worried about your money? Sound off at our blog, npr.org/daydreaming.
(Soundbite of song "California Dreaming")
MAMAS AND THE PAPAS: (Singing) All the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey.
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