Sheila Bair was incredulous when a banker questioned the need for FDIC’s overdraft guidance. Only 40% of banks use automated “robo overdraft” programs, the FDIC chairman pointed out. The rest of the industry is already doing what the guidelines recommend, she said, namely counseling people who have a problem with overdrafts—defined as those who incur six or more per year.

ABA’s annual National Conference for Community Bankers, held in February 2011 in San Diego, was chock full of useful sessions and hallway seminars for bankers. We’ll be presenting reports from the meeting elsewhere on the website and in the magazine. But, in the spirit of Reporter’s Notes, some items deserved highlighting that might otherwise be missed.

Sometimes you come across important principles in unexpected places. In the lead story in this month’s ABA Resources, for example, Laura Fisher, who runs the ABA Education Foundation, talks about the foundation’s Teach Children to Save Day. In her response to a question about the program’s impact, she says, “Teaching kids to save is a great opportunity to teach them self-control. And self-control tends to be more important than self-confidence in terms of a person’s long-term success.”

Call us retro if you want, but we were pleased to note several references in articles in this issue to the importance of people. A useful reminder in our digitally-obsessed world.

The low state of banking’s image came home to Ohio banker Bick Weissenrieder about a year ago. He and his wife were attending a reception among a travel group of which they were a part. People were making pleasant conversation, and someone turned to Weissenrieder and said, “Bick, what do you do?”

“Didn’t we just do this?” said ABA’s chief, lowering his tall frame into a chair in his office in that familiar semi-slouched position. Yes, actually, we did just do this—“this” referring to an interview—but the subject of that earlier session, we reminded him, was about the Dodd-Frank Act. This one was for an article about him, now that he’s leaving ABA. “Oh, yes,” he recalled, with an air of resignation. It was the end of another busy week, and getting near the end of a five-year run leading the industry’s largest trade group. And “run” is the right word.

Ever since the economic recovery lost steam a few months ago, there has been much discussion about whether the U.S. is repeating the Japanese experience. After that Asian country’s stock and real estate bubbles burst, it has not been able to regain its economic mojo—struggling with deflation and slow growth for 20 years.

There’s an interesting byplay in this issue involving the question of whether to specialize or be a generalist. That question has been kicking around banking for decades, with sometimes one, now the other view having ascendancy. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, specialization—or nichemanship—retreated, with traditional community banking enjoying a renaissance.

There was a popular book a few years ago titled, “The Death of Common Sense,” by Phillip Howard. A good sequel would be, “The Death of Integrity.”

Sometimes the government surprises us by cranking out a best seller, despite itself. The report of the 9-11 Commission is one example.