being in the know, being in on a secret, makes a person feel special.

Being “in the know” makes you feel special

During Prohibition, speakeasies were supposed to be secret. You had to be “in the know” or know someone, in order to get in the door.

Today, prohibition may be long gone, but speakeasies aren’t. There’s a speakeasy in East Village New York that’s hidden behind a phone booth in a hot dog joint. You heard right, a speakeasy. Hidden behind a phone booth. Inside a hot dog joint. Crif Dogs on St. Mark’s Place, to be more specific.

And the speakeasy is appropriately named “Please Don’t Tell.”

You have to go into the phone booth in the back, dial a number, and they open a door for you to come in. As long as you have a reservation of course. They start taking reservations at 3 pm and the place is usually booked by 4.

Probably because the place isn’t very big. Reviews on Yelp talk about a bar that seats a dozen people and a few booths that seat 4-5 people. The drinks cost about $15 each, and apparently the only food on the menu comes from Crif Dogs. Their website only has a picture of the bar, their logo, and a phone number for reservations.

But all of those potential hurdles hasn’t stopped the bar from becoming a hotspot in NYC. In fact, it has probably helped.

Because people want to feel special.

And being in the know, being in on a secret, makes a person feel special.

Even when that secret has now been featured on multiple websites; reviewed on Yelp and Urban Spoon; one of their mixologists has been on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and tourists probably outnumber the locals on any given day.

You may be wondering by now what a post about a speakeasy has to do with credit unions.

Well, have you ever heard of credit unions described as the best-kept secret in the financial world? So what would happen if members felt “in the know” about credit unions?

Are you willing to take reservations?

Kent Dicken
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