The Customer Who…Loves the World Cup June 27, 2006
Posted by Teller in Customer Who...Series.2 comments
Two topics have dominated all conversations this past month: World Cup and parliamentary elections. Elections will take place on Thursday and ergo culminate discussions of politics after the initial backlash of “D’you believe [insert disbelief/joy/frustration] won?” Regardless, chitchat of the World Cup will continue well into the next month. Don’t misunderstand me. I enjoy discussing sports but having to face customers saying the identical phrases all day long gets tiresome. I cannot feign excitement over a match after having discussed it with twenty other people.
Today a customer walked in and would not pause long enough to take a breath in his enthusiasm for the World Cup. The entire counter listened to a play-by-play of the last six matches and why specific teams won or lost, what they should have done and if they will do better in the next World Cup. Before I knew it, two of the trainees jumped into the discussion as well as three customers waiting their turn. I’ve reached the point where I just want it to wrap-up.
Mr. Shady Character June 24, 2006
Posted by Teller in Counter Closed.3 comments
"Who was he?"
A man walked into my branch twice. The first time he sat down and stared at me. The second time he asked about me but I was away from my counter and when I returned, he was gone. For days he remained an elusive creature. I had my suspicions but I didn't want to voice them in case I turned out to be wrong and you would all see the ego on me 
A few days after the second visit fo his my phone rang and light was shed on the mystery. My aunt had told one of her friends that I was eligible, read "desperate spinster" and which branch I worked at. Said friend had a nephew six years my senior who was also eligible. He came, he saw, and he was interested. Let's ignore that he didn't speak a word to me. This is a common scenario that occurs in Kuwait. In a country where dating is taboo and singletons have no acceptable venue for meeting and chatting up potential significant others, the elders interfere and you find the man (or female members of his family) showing up at your place of work to check you out discreetly. Needless to say, this is very distracting and frankly I hate this game. Usually the female knows this is about to happen and dresses up for the occasion. My aunt dropped the ball on that one because she was out of the country.
He is still interested.
I am still disinterested and praying he doesn't reappear at my branch and work up the courage to talk to me.
Female Managers June 23, 2006
Posted by Teller in Counter Open.3 comments
"Teller!" a voice shouted as I stepped into the branch. It was not a joyous exclamation. I could hear the relief in my coworker's voice, "I can't believe you're really back! I thought she got rid of you too!"
The hair on the nape of my neck stood up. Something was different in a bad way. There was tension in the air. I didn't know when I left my branch a month ago that I would return and find that everything would be changed. The most significant change was that our manager had been replaced. Instead of the prickly male we had come to tolerate and learned how to deal with, we now had to adjust to having a female manager.
In all likelihood, my following statements may result in a severe backlash but I will not attempt to forestall it by mincing my words about the way things are. You must confront the problem in order to reach a solution. I will concede that there are stereotypes in what I will continue to say and these stereotypes from the experiences I've been through over the years and from what I've heard from other employees. That said, I'll continue…
Female managers are known to be merciless. In a male-dominated world, they have to work twice as hard as their counterparts and they need to be ruthless to do it. There is no time to mince words or to coddle your hurt feelings. If you can't take the heat, tough luck. If you're male, they will squeeze every ounce of work in you making your life hell if in any way they suspect that you are trying to pull one over them because of their gender. If you're a female and you get a female manager, I have four words to say to you. You are in trouble. Female managers view other females as a threat rather than an ally. In viewing them in such a light managers discriminate against their female employees.
It's well-known that male and female management styles differ. Countless studies have been done, numerous papers have catalogued the differences, the benefits and disadvantages. Our new manager was definitely one who illustrates all the disadvantages of being lead by a female.
1. Always know history in order to learn from it. A quarter of the staff that had worked with her have resigned within 3-6 months of being under her management. She has had the highest staff turnover rate because they either resign or request to be transferred.
2. She discriminates against women because they are women. At our branch she has transferred 3 of the female staff to other branches because they are "inadequate" and yet kept our incompetant male loan officer.
3. She has a history of commending a staff member's work only to rip them to shreds on the official evaluation. She will then refuse to change it and complain to the administration that the employee is unwilling to better him/herself by accepting her input.
4. She will do anything to get ahead. This includes seducing potential customers and asking female employees to do the same.
In the week I've been back I've been fortunate in escaping her scrutiny. She has had to attend managerial courses and so hasn't been at the branch very often. I'm wary of what the work atmosphere is going to be like upon her return.
الله يستر علينا
I’ll Be Back, said the Automated Teller Machine June 18, 2006
Posted by Teller in Counter Open.2 comments
A temporary leave of absence, she said. Two weeks, she said. How temporary is a month? I believe I've shown a remarkable amount of self-restraint in not writing in that time period. In an amazingly short time I became attached to WordPress as an outlet for my work-related stories and more so to you, Readers. I'm grateful to those who commented or e-mailed me about my (seemingly) sudden disappearance. To maintain my anonymity I will refrain from giving out the specific details but I will take the opportunity to issue the following statements.
1) It had nothing to do with the pseudo-stalker. An upcoming post will shed light on those incidents. Harsha wasn't too far off the mark.
2) I didn't cease my posts because I was found out and threatened with dismissal. I've been discreet in revealing details about customers because privacy is crucial in my line of work.
3)A pressing matter turned into an extended holiday and now I'm back, refreshed and revived. I'll be back at work tomorrow and frankly I couldn't be more excited. I've missed my coworkers and customers, the smell of the branch, the peacefulness of entering it in the mornings and preparing for the rush. I've missed the routine of my days.
