Am I the only one who gets pissed off whenever I see an AMSCOT building?

[BushOut06]

There have always been the chains that are willing to take advantage of the poor by charging outrageous check-cashing fees, but these guys seem to take it to the next level. There are certain sections of Orlando where you can't go more than a dozen blocks without running into several of these things. They're all nice and spiffy, very professional looking. At least the usurpers in the past used to look like sleazy places. Now you've got AMSCOT running these tax-prep ads that promise "no up-front money taken out" - well no shit. But how much money do they take out of your check, I wonder? Why, you can even pay your utility bill there, how convenient - for a fee, of course!

Everytime I see one of these places, it makes me think of Fight Club - nothing makes me want to go all "Operation Mayhem" more than these things.

[graywarrior]

1. They're all over Sarasota & Bradenton as well.

Classist ads, if not racist.

[BushOut06]

2. And they do tend to proliferate the poorer areas

And by proliferate, I don't mean in the sense that Walmarts proliferate areas. I'm talking almost McDonald's like proliferation. Guess they must be especially targeting those who don't have cars to drive that extra few blocks.

[graywarrior]

3. Got that right. They're usually near a General Dollar store.

[_testify_]

4. and Tampa.

When I was a kid, my brother told me the best indication that a neighborhood was 'bad' were check-cashing places and karate schools.

[BushOut06]

6. Don't forget the pawn shops

Always a dead giveaway, especially the ones with iron bars across the windows, and advertise "CA$H FOR GOLD"

[Selatius]

5. Hey, man, this is capitalism. This is the US of A. Home of greed.

Gotta make some money somehow. As PT Barnum said, "There's a sucker born every minute."