I have recently had the pleasure of spending a lot of time at TD Canada Trust. Yes, I know this seems unlikely, maybe even impossible, but I was pretty happy with my time at the bank. One little question that came up on some bank forms is worth noting as it reflects so much about our changing times and changing country.
The bank needed to update our profile information, something that hadn't happened for many years. We were going through the information on the different screens - address, phone numbers, etc. - when we hit an error. The system had rejected the terms 'husband' and 'wife'. They had been entered years before when the account was originally opened, but since then laws have changed, and, even more importantly, attitudes have changed. Now, the choice that best reflected our situation was 'spouse' - gender neutral and easily adapted to same-sex marriage.
Banks are not usually known for being big on change, but TD had changed. The most exciting part of it was that the two people working with us at the bank acted as if there was no other way it should be. This is the new normal. The new normal is often not such a great thing, but this one most definitely is. As the manager said, "Times have changed. We needed some new options to describe our customers."
When a bank and its staff see changes like this as the natural way to describe basic social relationships, it's a heartening sign of societal change.
And another reason I am glad to be back in my home and native land (and living on theBside).
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