I was just getting used to seeing North Fork Bank branches on every corner, and now the New York regional bank is being snapped up by Capital One for $14.6 billion.

Coming from that banking colony known as Florida, it’s a familiar pattern: A small community bank builds up some size, and the second it becomes a ghost of a blip asset-wise, a Bank of America or Wachovia swallows it up. I wonder how the acquired banks’ customers feel when that happens; many of them very likely gravitated toward smaller operations specifically because of bad experiences with megabanks.

Then again, Capital One’s move is a complementary one, since their main business is corporate and credit. And Hiberia National Bank, CapOne’s previous toe-dip into retail banking, has retained its brand identity. So at least for the short term, it appears North Fork will keep its name and colors.