Caution! This is a real-life event. Story below is bit lengthy with audios embedded in the text. Be patient whilst reading and listening.
Never thought March 6, 2014 would switch sides so rapidly for
me. It was another darn dawn of a day where after doing up with my routine
chores I had been handed over an errand by my mom which was the rent deposit to
the landlord. Thanks to the slow and lousy virtual banking procedure of my
country, I couldn’t do an online transfer sitting at home from the computer.
As usual I ride up to one of the bank Al-Falah branch, park my
bike, out-gaze the bank building and notice the iron-caged shutter is halfway up
which obviously means my arrival is a little early. I reach for my cellphone
from my pant-pocket and look at the time, it’s 8:50 a.m.
Damn! I have to wait outside for a whopping 10 minutes. I
situate my butt on my parked bike and wait in despair seeing Al-Falah and other
banks’ staff walking-in to secure their attendance right before 9:00 a.m. my
clock ticks 9, I move and leap onto the bank gate.
With the iron-caged shutter still halfway up, I ask the guard
why are you not opening the gate, he responds, it’s not time yet. I tell him it
is 9:00 a.m. Jack! Open the door so I can go inside. He says sir I cannot open
it until the staff is free from their morning meeting. I sense my mind send
raging signals to my nervous system and in a dominant voice I man-up to the
guard and argue as follows “if their meeting finishes after 10:00 a.m. will
you still make the customer wait outside?” He responds, yes sir, sometimes
their meeting can take up to 2:00 p.m. and if they wish and order the security
to keep the gates shut – so shall it be. I really feel disrespected after
getting such a verbal insult form a mere security guard. I tell him, to have a
solution for this there’s only one way; a complaint letter to bank’s head
office. He laughs and says “nothings gonna happen.” I nod, guard goes
inside the bank, walking away a few steps from the bank’s pavement I reach for
my Samsung Galaxy Ysmart phone in my pant-pocket and click a
picture of the bank’s banner with the intention to lodge a complaint to their
reporting office or line manager.
Fast forward, I go to another branch of the same bank close in
the vicinity. Get my work done and decide to pay a visit to my first branch
this morning and settle some unfinished business. Thanks to technology that we
find everything on the tip of our fingers these days.
Riding again to the first branch, I take my cellphone out, take
off my helmet and walk towards the gate. This time the iron-caged shutter is
finally up and I see the guard standing for security check. When I open the
gate to walk-in, he expresses empathy and speaks “sir you’ve come again”. I
tell him I’ve come to complain and see the branch manager. I switch on the
recorder in my phone and walkup to the counter. I ask the teller, where can I
meet your branch manager? He inquires what’s the matter? And below is the audio
version of the conversation that took place.
[Unfortunately, had to remove the audio to avoid any unforeseen litigation]
[Unfortunately, had to remove the audio to avoid any unforeseen litigation]
[Unfortunately, had to remove the audio to avoid any unforeseen litigation]
I accept his apology and tell him to stick by the timings what
you’ve advertized at the main gate. By not opening the gates in time you’re
simply piling irate customers to your unsatisfactory list.
Conclusion
In spite of being of timid nature, I don’t understand the force
behind which emotionally charged me. I learned a great lesson from this event
i.e. addressing what is wrong with the intention to make it right.
The emotional charge is rare with Vincent Michael. Anyway, the
courage I took to address the issue to the bank officials turned out fruitful.
And in the end I said to myself – it was worth the commotion!
