19 May 2006

Bank Folly

This won't take long...

Went to the bank to make a deposit. I was seventh in line, at 9:45 A.M. One teller. Eleven bank officers in Brownian motion. One customer waiting for some other service. Bank vault silence.

One teller with little experience. We could tell because she hesitated before every action: looking at a check...confirming the signature...checking the endorsement...punching in the account number...looking at the check again...checking the endorsement against the license...counting out the money...again...with the calculator...one more recount...

Never smiling, tense, glancing up as the line grew from seven to nine to 13. I was now fifth. 9:56 A.M.

At 10:23, a full 38 minutes after I got in line, it was My turn. The deposit process usually takes a minute, with time for a few pleasantries. This one took four minutes. I could have been a mile away. I wanted to be a mile away.

Stamp. StampSTAMP. My yellow deposit slip comes back to Me. 10:27 A.M. I look back and see 15 people waiting in line. As soon as I reach the doubled doors--the kind that make you wait in a glass closet for one to close so you can open the other one--three tellers rush behind the counter and start calling customers.

I took it personally. Of course.


The Jenius Has Spoken.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

The only thing more painful is going to the Post Office to pick up a package. I try to do everything from ATMs, Web and deposit boxes. Even with a Blackberry, standing in line is a waste.

Anonymous said...

Or how about changing lines and then finding that you're in wrong one because the person in front of you has an item without a price tag?!