Settle down! Don't push the panic button, or put a dye pack in a bag. It wasn't the robbery kind of hold-up. It was a delay kind of hold-up. Just as irritating, but not as dangerous.
Let the record show that I haven't been to the bank in slightly over two months. All year long, I stash money away in one of our safes, in designated envelopes, to defray end-of-the-year costs such as Christmas, property and real estate taxes, and insurance. It's like I have several "Christmas Club" accounts of my own making. When those bills come due, I write out the checks for payment. Then instead of making my weekly trip to the bank to withdraw our weekly cash, I mete it out from those "club" envelopes. It works great. It's like not having to deal with "unexpected" expenses, even though you've known all year they would be coming.
Anyhoo... those 2023 "clubs" have been used, and this week I have started going back to the bank. Of course I picked the wrong line! Only two were open. I had a 50-50 chance. One car in each drive-thru lane. Both with their engines turned off. I picked the lane with the easiest canister dispenser to navigate with T-Hoe.
Another car pulled up in the lane beside me. So there were four of us sitting there. For about five minutes. Then the car in the other lane started up and left. So much for picking the wrong line. But it got worse!
The driver of the car in front of me reached for the canister. It was a sedan, with a woman driver, a teen girl in the middle of the back seat, and a teen boy in the passenger seat up front. They had their phones out, swapping things back and forth. I figured the lady driver was counting out her money, or looking at her receipt. But then she put the canister back and pushed the WHOOSH button!
THEY HAD BEEN SITTING THERE NOT EVEN STARTING THEIR TRANSACTION!
Another car pulled in beside me, so there was no advantage to switching lanes. Or so I thought. Three or four minutes later, the canister came back to the car in front of me. The woman driver took it out. There was more moving around of the phones. I was starting to wonder if they had a giant check cashed. They were taking selfies. Leaning into each other. Having a regular party. After about five minutes of these shenanigans, the woman driver put the canister back. No WHOOSH.
Did the car start up? No. It did not. Those people continued their phone festivities! Like they were having a family reunion. Or sight-seeing at the bank drive-thru. I thought maybe they were going to set up residence right there in Lane 2.
FINALLY, I saw the brake lights come on. The car slowly pulled away. I had spent 20 minutes waiting for that one car. While three others went through the lane beside me.
That's a low-down dirty bank hold-up if I ever saw one.
I would have been silently fuming:) How did you do?
ReplyDeleteOh, I was fuming. And not so silently. Good thing I had the windows up. It's not as if I had anywhere to be at a specific time. Just the idea that these folks seemed to be plopped there for eternity!
DeleteDid you check to see if their car had any rear-view mirrors?
ReplyDeleteYes. Their sedan had the full complement of mirrors. I checked, to see if they were looking back at me and snidely snickering at my entrapment. They were too busy partying with their phones.
DeleteI would have been tempted if I was carrying to put a bullet into that car or at least bump them or at least honk at them. People are inconsiderate assholes most days.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I won't learn how to shoot a gun. The BB version is the extent of my expertise. Good thing looks can't kill! It's also a good thing T-Hoe doesn't have a push-bar mounted on the front. That was definitely a car full of rumpusholes.
DeleteWouldn't you think the teller would ask them to move on after a couple of minutes? This seems to be extremely inconsiderate. But that's people today - self-centered and all about them. Ranee (MN)
ReplyDeleteIt was between 3:00 and 4:00, the last hour they were open. Only one teller was working. I suppose she might have asked them to move if there was only one drive-thru lane open. But she was servicing the other line that had cars moving through it.
DeleteI would have been tempted to honk at them if that happened here, but not in your country! No Siree!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I only honk if they're in my lane coming at me, or if they pull out in front of me so I have to jam on the brakes. No way would I honk while I was a sitting duck!
DeleteI want a push bar on the front of my car!! Inconsiderate peple just plain piss me off!
ReplyDeleteI need one on the BACK of T-Hoe, too. Don't need any of the oblivious-walking Entitled Generation getting stuck around his rear axle...
Delete