One sunny Wednesday afternoon, I had to deposit some cheques and take out some cash. I took a pleasant walk to the bank and then evaluated the two lineups in front of me - inside the bank, about 20 people waited to be helped by the tellers, but at the ATMs there were only four in queue. After a short wait, I trustingly put my bank card into the machine. It took my two cheques, but when I asked it to give me 60 dollars, a flickering screen told me that the card was stuck!
So I waited.
I peered into the bank. Nobody was at liberty to help me.
I waited some more.
The ATM flickered on blankly.
I went into the bank, hesitant about leaving the ATM for too long. I caught the attention of the woman sitting behind a desk by the doorway. After I'd told her about the card ordeal, she suggested I get into the line up for a teller. "Well," she added as an afterthought, "they'll help you get your card back only if they aren't too busy. They look really busy, but you can line up and ask anyways."
What else could I do? I glanced hopefully one more time at the ATM machine, but it only continued to flicker at me apathetically.
