demoted?

yup, four days after the announcement of my promotion i wake up to find out the bank has been bought out... just like that. I found out from my husband, who also works for NCB. His branch opens earlier than mine; he found out first. i'm not convinced that anyone in louisville knew about this until they reported to work friday morning. the good news is that, for now, I still have a job. the "transaction" will take months to finalize - sometimes bank buy-outs take years, but i feel like they will move quickly on this, as they are buying us up with government bailout money. the bad news? there are 56 national city branches in louisville and 48 of the other branches here, too. the market overlaps for us, cincy and pittsburgh. the problem is a market share that is greater than the fdic will allow. i think this means, that even if they wanted to operate over 100 branches in the louisville area that they just can't. so, for me personally, i wonder what will become of my national city branch... it's situated far too near a brand spanking new  facility by the super fun east end costco. will my branch become a mcdonald's? a starbucks? a thorntons? rumor has it that in these situations, when a bank becomes too large in one market, that they may sell assets to other banking corporations. so, technically, pnc could sell my branches deposits and outstandings and building... and staff... to another bank. Perhaps I'll show up to work one day and find i work for bank oldham county, american founders, or fifth third. hmm... maybe i'll have a job when that time comes. i just really don't know what to except. i hate this because i really liked national city as a company and believed in their values and principles. there i was, weeks and months ago, telling my customers we were well capitalized to meet their financial needs and that we didn't comment on rumor and speculation. i truly didn't think we were going to get bought. i thought it would come back around. however, when the third quarter report came out, even i had this gut feeling that it wasn't looking good. the thing is, this buyout really is ideal for customers - and for me as a customer. it's certainly better than a bank going belly up, and divying out cash via the fdic. but, at the same time, it really, really, really blows. a bunch of bankers are going to be without jobs. is it hard for anyone to feel sorry for them? maybe. however, most bankers don't really make that much money. we just "deal" with a ton of it. if anyone wants to share their thoughts, please do. i'm really not angry or bitter, just a little saddened that the financial crisis has finally knocked on my back door. customers of ncb, don't worry. you'll get mail telling you what's going on. your account number and the sign on the door could change, and maybe you'll even have to get used to doing your banking on the other side of the road or a block further down the street, but you really won't be super affected. the buyout strengthens your bank if you are a customer: continue banking on the people you've always worked with, and we'll continue to bank on you. :)