Never on a Saturday

Stepping into the bank as the sliding doors opened I saw this reptilian line of customers and silently mouthed  “S..t”!

Positioning myself at the tail end of it and being temporarily idle, I observed  that every now and then when the sliding doors opened , the next unsuspecting customer would step in, stop and audibly say something like “Oh no”, “Give me a ….ing break”,  “Whaaat?” or simply “F…!” with a slap on the forehead.   Also a very Tall Man with Sunglasses on (TMWS) , about four customers down from me, would punctuate the silence with a loud “Ohhhhh” which startled everyone the first time and then just became part of the scene.

You can be anywhere in the world and this trying situation brings out strange responses from the people involved.     Standing in a long bank line, 20 people deep,  waiting  hopefully until you reach one of the two tellers at the window has got to be a lesson in patience , and fighting a growing impulse to believe that they are purposely dragging their tails.

The lady in front of me vowed    “Never again on a Saturday .  I should’ve known from last time”.  But what did I know?  I usually went on a weekday in the late afternoon.  Engaging in a conversation with her I learned the tips of painlessly depositing your cheques.  She was happy to educate me .  “I usually do my depositing through a bank app on my phone. “ She proceeded to list the steps and it seemed logical to me…except what did she do with the actual cheque?  “I keep it with me and note the confirmation number I get after the transaction is over.”  Somehow to me it was not as reassuring as watching the teller physically taking the cheque from me to deposit.

Lady in Tweed Coat jumped into our conversation and said “That is why I hate this bank!”  She obviously had a story to tell.  When she went up to the teller, the conversation went something like this. “I need to have such and such happen and the lady who is here during the week told me thus and so.”  “Well” said the teller, “You have to come back when she is here.”  LITC was livid.  “Oh, so I have to come back next week to speak with her because she is the only one who can help me in this entire branch!!  You know what?  That is why I hate to bank with you especially with this kind of money involved.”  All eyes are now on LITC.  What kind of money is she talking about?!  Looks of awe are shot her way.  Maybe she is someone important…   Just then TMWS decided to break the silence with a loud “Ohhh”.

I had just inched to the front of the line now and had a smug feeling I would be out of here soon.  Felt sorry for the others behind me.  Just then, the female teller shut her window, displayed the “CLOSED” sign and with the 50^th flick of her hair, which was totally covering her left eye,  and walked off with heels clicking.  She dared not look at us because tempers were being held in check and she sensed a mutiny.  After 15 minutes she returned and I was next .   I held down my frustration, got the cheques deposited and swore to myself “Never again on a Saturday”.