Trouble At The Bank

Troubled times being broadcast on the news nightly and forecasts of more hard times to come have made many businesses remember the old slogan "customer first." But troubling times can also bring people to work rather grumpy. This tends to work against keeping the customers you already have happy, but all people have bad days once in awhile.

My husband came home recently from the bank very unhappy. He had some problems with his account and the manager was purposely unhelpful and rude. She wouldn’t let him do what he needed to do. He told her we had been banking that way for over 20 years, just to ask the other employees. She had obviously not received yoga tapes for Christmas and was not very much into universal harmony.

In fact, she told him that she would like the names of everyone that had ever allowed him to bank that way and she would have them all fired. He told her that was a lot of people. Was she sure that the unemployment office could handle that. He also told her she made very bad coffee.
When he arrived home he was in a very irate state. But, I, being the new student of Christmas yoga tapes, unbent from the One Handed Tiger stance I had been balancing in, and told him to calm down. I would go back to the bank with him and try and straighten it out. We would try a different branch.

I put on my best snowman sweater to look appropriate for meeting a banker. And also my lucky furry boots. Anyone would immediately see upon my arrival that I was a business professional. Upon entering the bank I felt very positive.

A smiling young woman came out to greet us and brought us to her desk. She had a bowl of mints. And a cup full of pens. She was very pleasant and frowned sympathetically when we told her our problem. Apologizing for the other woman’s rudeness, she stated that their branch was the best branch. And the happiest. I nodded happily. I bet she knew yoga.

Offering me a pen to sign a paper for her to show her manager, I took it and signed my name. I wondered if the offer was just for the duration of my signature or if the pen was a gesture of friendship. I decided she had offered it to me for life. I stuck it in my purse.

While she went to consult with the manager, I perused her bowl of mints. I ate a few. She took a few more minutes, so I ate a few more. The two women came back a short time later and they both smiled and apologized for all the misunderstandings. They said things were just fine. She reached for her bowl to offer me some mints. But since she only had a few, so I declined graciously. So she offered me a pen.

We all laughed together and had made great friends. They apologized again for the previous problem. I said not to worry, everyone had bad days. The poor woman might have had a fight with her husband, or was worried about bank robbers, or maybe had really bad coffee. My new friends had more than made up for any bad feelings.

Upon leaving things only got better as a kind gentleman held the door open for us. A very nice thing to do since he must have been very uncomfortable in all that heavy dark clothing and thick wool overcoat. But he was obviously a famous, rich musician because he was still wearing his skimask and carrying his violin case. I could envision him playing his violin to the rich and famous while skiing the slopes of Aspen.

Feeling very good that our problems had been solved, my husband offered to take me to lunch at my very favorite fish restaurant. I was feeling peaceful and happy and pleasantly blessed as we headed off to lunch. We waited before making the turn as a bunch of police cars roared up the road to tear into the bank parking lot behind us.

No wonder they were all heading there. The bank had already demonstrated that it was obviously the most courteous branch. All those policeman had chosen to do their banking there, too.

I restated that by keeping in mind that everyone had really bad days once in awhile, everything had turned out just fine in the end. And didn’t I seem to have such minty, fresh breath.