Mark Twain was an amazing writer and observer of the humancondition. He made himself a household name even more than acentury after his death.

I've been reading A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur'sCourt, and one passage particularly grabbed my attention.

“The pilgrims were human beings. Otherwise they would have acteddifferently. They had come a long difficult journey, and now whenthe journey was nearly finished, and they learned that the mainthing they had come for had ceased to exist, they didn't do ashorses or cats or angleworms would probably have done–turn back andget at something profitable–no, anxious as they had before been tosee the miraculous fountain, they were as much as 40 times asanxious now to see the place where it used to be. There is noaccounting for human beings.”

At the time I read it, I merely found it interesting andrefreshingly true–as refreshing as something from the 19th Centurycan be.

Then CUTimes.com started getting quite a few comments to some ofthe corporate stories we were posting, particularly those involvingWestern Bridge/UnitedResources. We received comments asking how we could publishsuch jaded, biased pieces, at which point I directed them to ourentire corporatecredit union news section, which is incredibly balancedwith positive and negative news. Unfortunately for the entirecredit union community, Western Bridge cost the credit unioncommunity a lot of money, as did a handful of other corporates. Itwill wind down operations over the next year.

Credit Union Times followed the corporate credit unioncrisis from soup to nuts, offering readers information aboutrecapitalization plans for each of the corporates and alternatives.And we were dinged for that too. But the information on bothsides of the debate was there. Some credit unions chose to fight tokeep Western Bridge/UnitedResources. Even after reporting the capitalization effort wasway off target, some still had to see for themselves that thefountain was dry.

It's also interesting to read what people will write whenprotected by the anonymity of the online world. I make a point tosign my name to everything I post because it just seems like theright thing to do, like being able to face an accuser. There aresometimes legitimate reasons to protect your identity, like witnessprotection. Otherwise, your comments carry less weight and are lesslikely to jumpstart change.

The CU WaterCooler had an interesting experience with comments to itswebsite a couple weeks ago. Overlooking much of the saber rattlingthat went on following a Matt Davis post, one commenter (postedunder a name I believe is fake) called the CU Water Cooler “acollection of fringe industry players who wring their hands andcarp about the wrong direction credit unions have taken as if theyare a jury of our peers. Who died and put you guys in charge?”

Strong fighting words. (Another relevant and notable Twainquote, “Pay no attention to the papers, but watch theaudience.”)

Here's the problem for 'Hap'. Maybe not today, but members oforganizations like the CU Water Cooler and the Crashers will berunning the credit union community because the “adults”you were so happy are still in charge now will, in fact, die. Theseyoung folks are so excited about making their careers in creditunions, they should be welcomed and taught the ropes by industryveterans, not belittled and berated. And maybe one day they willearn the corner office spot, but at 20- and 30-something juniorexecutive is often where they exist. They may not be your peersyet, but they are credit unions' futures if there is to be one.Wise up and invest or you'll run the fountain dry. As Twain pointedout in the opening quote, human beings aren't always rational.

Given his real-life financial problems, it's ironic I quoteTwain. (There's also the fact he published under a pseudonym.)Twain believed in the Paige compositor, a machine to revolutionizethe printing process. He went bankrupt funding the project. Perhapshearing a voice of experience, reeling in his enthusiasm andinnovation just a tad, would have kept him from financial disasterand possibly moved the world toward a successful machine. He sawwhat was possible but could have used guidance getting there.

On Sept. 29-30, the CU Water Cooler is holding its annualSymposium at FORUM Credit Union in Fishers, Ind. It's awesome tosee that some, and I hope most, in the credit union community seethe value in supporting young people who are truly excited to bepart of the industry. Credit Union Times is the proudmedia sponsor of this event.