After having a brief lunch with a co-worker this afternoon, I walked with him up to the local RegionsBank HQ in Nashville so he could deposit a few checks.

As we're standing in the atrium, I observe that there are a couple of wall-mounted LCD widescreens, and they're showing Happy Feet on them both. So I muse aloud, "Hey, when I was a kid, my sisters and I didn't get to see a movie. We did, however, get a Dum-Dum lollipop after my mom concluded her business at the bank, so I think I got the better end of the deal." He nodded in agreement. "I like the root beer ones the best, I think. Cream soda is a close second."

Continuing, I wagered a Special Lunch Numero Cinco that as part of a cost-cutting measure, the bank had stopped giving out suckers at the tellers' window (I don't bank at Regions; I use a local credit union). "Something like that," I surmised, "just doesn't pass muster for this neo-Dickensian corporate age."

We approach the counter, and we ask the teller about this, couched in terms of "help us settle a bet."

Unfortunately, I lost, but only on a technicality. RegionsBank does in fact give out suckers, but they do so with a monthly allocation at the branch that runs out in approximately two days. Feh. In spirit, I think it's fair to say that they don't, in fact, make this a priority.

However, they're supposedly trying to "figure out a way" to pay for the suckers, as a lot of people have been asking about what happened to them. (Translated: The company is too cheap anymore to fund them out of petty cash, and some humorless bean counter probably won't consider them an allowable expense.)

So, the question remains: What financial institutions (branch or main office) still maintain this, one of the least among life's simple pleasures?