Back when I was a kid, I remember my grandma used to hide things in the ductwork at her house.
I always used to think that this was weird.
I never really understood why she did it until I finally asked my dad about it. He said that back when she was a kid, the banks failed, and so she thinks that banks cannot be trusted. My grandma never put any money in the bank as far as I know. She had it hidden inside of her mattress and stuffed into the shoes in her closet. Whenever my cousins and I would be over there playing after church on Sundays, we were always finding stuff that she had hidden away. I remember one day when she wanted to give us some money for Easter. She told my oldest cousin to climb up on the arm of the couch and push open the air vent in the ceiling. When he did, she told him to reach over to the side of the ductwork and get down a little box that she had squirreled away up there. Once she opened up the box, we all could see that it was full of cash! I will never forget that day. We were all shocked that she had been saving her money and sticking it in the ductwork in her house. These days, I trust the banks to take care of my money. However, once in a while I think about sticking a few twenty dollar bills into the air conditioning vents just to honor my grandma.