Excerpt of CC’s Journal
April 4, 2022.
There are myriads of things that could infiltrate and soil one’s day, visiting a bank and using an ATM could be one of such. I had an itinerary filled with visits to two banks. The activities that saddled me were: to pay in a cheque, to make some bulky withdrawals and to pay for a fee (that can only be paid in a bank and not online) for our office.
Please, I digress with these questions: what is the ideal time for a business center to resume?
Could it be a coincidence or perhaps a one-off occurrence that the 3 business centers I checked this morning were not open for business as of 7:42 AM on a Monday?
These were questions I reeled out to myself after my search for a place to print this morning was unsuccessful. The documents I intend to print are part of the requirement for the bank transaction I am to make. It pained me that I had to search extensively around my street and neighborhood and yet not find any business center open by such time of the day. How I go do nah?
I care so much about some avoidable bank charges by my bank; thus, I try to avoid withdrawing from other banks’ ATMs, especially bulky cash. This principle influenced my decision to use the ATM of the bank I bank with, and also because I was to pay in a cheque in my bank too; I decided to use the branch closest to me. This branch had 4 ATMs situated outside just beside the gate and gatehouse and guess what? None was dispensing. Was this another coincidence or one of those days the bank experiences some financial or network issues? Me and my questions sha, who go answer me sef? I waited till 8:00 AM before I was granted access into the banking hall. Being amongst the early set of customers inside the bank, I presumed that I would finish my transaction swiftly. But rather, I swiftly discovered that there was just one staff (male) present on the counter segmented into 6 stations to attend to the queue.
“Please, you will exercise some patience, the person who is supposed to sign and authorize your cheque is not present at the moment. If you could wait for a while……….” said the bank official attending to me. I asked how long the said person will arrive or resume, the official replied to me with an air of uncertainty, He did not know when but admonished me to wait a while still. My patience was little, I waited for 15 minutes and made a quick choice to visit another branch.
A similar scene greeted me at this other branch. Again, a lone staff member over the counter. A female this time, attending to customers on the queue. A man behind me expressed his anger over the situation saying “How can they have only one person present to attend to this crowd? Are these other empty spaces on the counter for decoration?” His tall and huge frame was almost overwhelming as he spoke. He tapped his feet on the floor repeatedly showing his disgust while he continued his rant. Another man in front of me joined the rant, interjecting in pidgin with sarcasm and anger saying: “e be like the other staff dem dey for leave, because I no see any risin dem go put enly one pesin for here to attend to us.” His deep voice did not march his slender physique and dark complexion. I aired my own displeasure to them too, citing my prior experience at the other branch this morning. The wait in the queue was unpleasant, long and annoying because only one staff member was attending to us. At last, it was my turn and thankfully there was no excuse for an absentee official or colleague to sign my cheque. I made the transaction and I withdrew using the ATM in the premises. Maybe my timing was too early, maybe it was a slack on the path of the owners (of those business centers) or maybe it was one of those days. I don’t know sha, what I do know was that locating a place to print from the bank was pretty easy, it was just a stone throw away. I printed the document and headed to the next bank.
At 10:41 AM, I arrived at this bank. The hand sanitizer the security personnel applied on my hand before I entered inside the banking hall made me inhale the air around me, it had a scintillating fragrance. I took it as a good omen for my mission in this bank. I think it was because the scene at this bank was different from the previous ones I had visited, not because it’s a different bank, but rather because the counter was filled with enough staff (five females and three males) attending to the queue of customers (which was moving at a fast pace). The banking hall wore a wide and bright ambience mainly because of the white color painting and the furnishing and setting.
My stay was brief and swift; I was attended to shortly after my arrival. No stress, no palaver. Phew! Mission accomplished!
This made me spill out some more questions: This bank that had adequate staff to attend to their customers, was it imported from space?
I feel some banks should be sanctioned and punished for inflicting unnecessary stress and sufferings on their customers. I feel the other two banks I visited were evil, that’s all.
I had some heated arguments with my boss this afternoon over this particular CV job. It wasn’t “heated-heated” as per see but it was not pleasant either. This CV job came in as an emergency. It was urgent. What caused our arguments was some disagreement in the style and pattern of how the CV should be prepared. Our argument went in a monochrome-versus-polychrome color spectrum. My Boss was on the monochrome spectrum and I was on the polychrome spectrum. She wanted the CV to be generic and less detailed, I wanted her to understand or at least get the concept about CVs (That not all CVs are the same, that CVs are tailored to fit a particular kind of job or opening the owner is intending to apply for, that there are different kinds of CVs for different categories of people and each has to be distinct and peculiar.) but instead we went in circles talking back and forth. She threatened to do it herself if I continued arguing with her and kept acting unwilling. (I felt this was blackmailing sha, threatening me with “I will do it myself….” but hey, she is my Boss, I owe her respect and Obedience) I started arranging the details and information supplied to me, but deep-down I was super uncomfortable and unhappy because I felt the job was not supposed to be done in the manner she proposed.
Alas, I ended up not doing the CV. It wasn’t because I acted rebellious but because vindication occurred. Yes, vindication happened; the client (owner) called and halted the job. After all the drama and mini tension. Could you believe it? I didn’t do the CV! (Hey, don’t mind me with my last paragraph, this is me being cheesy and playful) The client called and halted the job because of some (whatever) issues.
