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John Faillace is a captive audience for customers when they take a seat in his Southport Barber Shop. He listens to their opinions on just about anything.

These days, the latest financial fallout -- $218 million in bonuses paid by taxpayer-rescued AIG to its executives -- is the hottest topic with opinion divided on who is right and who is wrong. The firestorm over federal bailouts has spread from Wall Street and Washington to the normally serene Fairfield County hometowns where AIG executives live; their quiet, private lives disrupted by the media spotlight and an angry public looking for answers.

Executives who were part of the fabric of affluence and posh respectability here now have their names bandied about as villains. That, in turn, has created a current of sympathy among some who feel a witch-hunt of sorts has ensued.

Three of the executives, James Haas, Douglas Poling and Joseph Rooney, who worked for AIG Financial Products' division in

Wilton, are Fairfield residents.

According to several media reports, Poling, Hass and New Canaan resident Jon Liebergall intend to give back their AIG bonuses. According to the Wall Street Journal, Poling received the largest bonus -- $6.4 million.

The 47-year-old Haas, Poling, 48; and Rooney, 45, live in some of the most affluent enclaves of Fairfield. Poling's 11-room Colonial on a small quiet cul-de-sac in the woodsy Greenfield Hill area of town has an assessed value of $1.88 million and

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sits on 2.79 acres.

Built in 1930, Haas' estate-style home looks out over the country club's golf course and Southport Harbor beyond and his neighbors include former GE/NBC honcho Robert Wright.

Contrast those expensive homes with Faillace's small shop on Pequot Avenue, on a bustling corner in Southport, not far from the Haas home. The specials board across the street at the Spic & Span Market advertises an "economic stimulus sandwich" for $4.95.

"I think they're angry and they want the government to do something," Faillace said of his clientele's prevailing view of the AIG bailout controversy. "They shouldn't be giving bonuses as far as I'm concerned ... I don't think they personally deserved those bonuses."

As for arguments that the generous retention bonuses were necessary to keep key players at AIG, Faillace said he thinks there are plenty of others who could have done the jobs.

On Friday afternoon, Lisa Babbington, emerged with a cup of coffee in hand from the Driftwood luncheonette. "My husband is in the insurance business," the Fairfield resident said. "I think it's ridiculous and I'm happy they're going to tax the bonus money."

Babbington said she knows one of the AIG executives, who she declined to name, and said he got a more than $6 million bonus. "They don't need it," she said. "I think it's wrong for them to working away with these bonuses. It's unfair."

Another Driftwood patron didn't want to comment on the AIG controversy, explaining he didn't want to bring any more attention "to the locals."

But Dennis Boyd and Jim Bernhardt engaged in a lively discussion about the merits of the AIG bonuses and the financial world in general, as they spent a lunch hour at the Horseshoe Bar in Southport center, with an eye on the television sets broadcasting the NCAA basketball games.

Boyd's outrage is reserved for the federal government and members of Congress. "Congress has the audacity to be so outraged at this," he said, contending that those in government already knew about the payouts. "They sit up there on their high horses."

He said it was all right there is the stimulus package "that was jammed down everyones' throat," but apparently none of them bothered to read it.

Boyd, who works in the financial sector, agreed executive compensation is out of control and has been for years. A change in that, he said, maybe "one positive coming out of this."

Bernhardt wondered who would be paying the 90 percent tax on the bonuses that has been proposed. If it is the companies that took bailout funds, he asked, "Wouldn't they be paying the tax with the government's own money?"

The two questioned the fairness of taking away contractual bonuses from employees and Boyd said he's disgusted with the finger-pointing that has ensued during the controversy. "There's plenty of blame to go around," he said.

Tom and Betsy Redgate sat in Chef's Table, enjoying a late lunch Friday. "I think it's too much time spent on the bonus issue itself," Tom Redgate said, and while he said the bonuses are a lot of money, if the executives had a contract based on performance, and they did what they were contracted to do, they deserve the money.

"If they did the job, they're entitled," he said. "There are other issues in this country that are of greater importance."

Charles Falzone works in Fairfield as a wealth manager for a bank. He finds himself torn on bonus issue.

"It's really tough to say," Falzone said, "and one of the reasons is I don't really know who is blame for all of this ... I'm not sure everybody bothered to read the bill."

He wondered, as long as it was legal, was it wrong to compensate individuals who will soon be out of jobs. As Congress continued to debate the proposed 90 percent tax, Falzone said, "This is one problem that won't affect the markets, as far as I'm concerned."

Residents of New Canaan were more apt than their blue-collar peers to express sympathy Friday for executives who received bonus checks this year, including town resident Jon Liebergall, 43.

Mike Kahmann, a New Canaan resident and banker, said he feels the move to subpoena AIG executive is calibrated as a public spectacle rather than a sincere attempt to get to the bottom of whether bonuses were paid properly or not.

"Any time people get a lot of money it's a legitimate question to ask how did the business perform," Kahmann, 50, said. "I don't see how a subpoena advances the goal of finding out what happened."

Laura Pollock, a financial head hunter for David Barrett Partners and a North Stamford resident, said she feels the vilification of AIG executives that rolled to a boil this week has been "disgusting."

"These people, this is what they do for a living," Pollock said. "They're there to help unwind things and they are getting retention bonuses to do that."

But some New Canaan residents said Friday they felt it was unfair for executives to profit in the wake of the bailout. "I think they should give the bonuses back," Doug Knight said. "Especially if it's the taxpayers footing the bill."

While Rowayton resident Ron Restivo said he thinks AIG shouldn't have handed out the bonuses, he said the vilification of a handful of executives amounted to a "witch hunt." Their families especially should be left out of it, said Restivo, the retired chief financial officer of a Norwalk-based plastics and rubber distribution company.

"It's a diversion by politicians to blame someone other than themselves," said Restivo, 64. "I think they're blowing it out of proportion."

Kathleen Conway, also of Rowayton, hoped the focus on AIG didn't distract the government from a more important focus on greater oversight and regulation.

"I don't think we should make them villains," said Conway, 65. "I don't think it's that helpful."

Staff writers Lisa Chamoff and Magdalene Perez also contributed to this story.