It's relatively easy to absorb small banks. Every issue from staffing to systems is on a smaller scale. And cultural differences really aren't a problem because the larger company imposes its culture on the smaller company. In the end, the culture of the acquirer survives, but the process is more evolutionary. Both the First Chicago contingent and the NBD contingent are used to acquisitions where if there's a dispute about an issue, you simply tell the other guy what to do.
Every decision requires a lot of discussion to reach some form of agreement.
If we stumble, the market will give us a real haircut and we'll wind up in the gun sights of Chase, NationsBank or Bank of America. Only the fit survive. Now let's bring it home. But we see this as a temporary pause and expect to be back in the market next fall. Make no mistake.