Days of a Kuwaiti Bank Teller

Have you noticed the high number of bloggers that make headlines because they get dismissed or made to resign from their jobs after their blog is discovered? It’s so bad that Blogger has a page advising you how not to get fired for your blog! The latest blogger forced into unemployment is Petite Anglaise.

That’s only one reason why I am cautious about my identity and protective of my customers’. Branch and customer details are changed slightly because when it comes down to it I take my responsibilities seriously. E-mails asking about a customer’s identity in a particular post won’t merit a reply. I also will not answer which bank or branch I’m located at. It may behoove you to try to find out and to those who may attempt such a treasure hunt I wish you the best of luck.

The Female Manager: Always fearful, dreaded and moody.
The Assistant Manager: Always helpful, timid and peaceful.
Meet The Loan Officers:

1) The Obnoxious One: Always obnoxious.
2) The Good One: Always perfect.

The Meeter Greeter: Always solemn, distracted and quiet.
Meet The Tellers:

1) FunnyGirl: Always cheerful, smiling and sweet.
2) Chimney: Always late, smoking and sulky.

3) Yours Truly

The Teaboy: Always ready, quick and smart.

The Trainees: Always changing, eager and refreshing.

One of the best things on the job, for me is the routine. It keeps me grounded. It keeps me stable. It keeps me on track. I equate it with praying five times a day. It always keeps me centered and focused. However when your entire day is pre-scheduled, one single event can delay the rest of your work. That’s when I start twitching. I abhor deviating away from my schedule especially when it’s to deal with co-worker tantrums.

July and August are the months when promotions will be announced and cemented. Due to his delusional state, Chimney believes he’s got one due. Forget the bad evaluation, poor performance, daily tardiness and the simple fact that he is Chimney. He still insists that he should be on the short list to a better job title, grade and salary.

My routine has been consistently interrupted last week because of our new manager’s demands that I come to her office so she can better acquaint herself with me. She has subtley been trying to see how much it will take to aggravate me. Silly demands from her have to be answered immediately. As she has been calling for me with pointless tasks, Chimney has taken upon himself the right to get jealous, childish and irate. He views my visits to her office as a threat to his step up in the branch.

From what I’ve witnessed so far she enjoys fermenting this type of conflict between coworkers in her branch. She believes it spawns competitiveness. I see it as it is, a horrible way to manage. When you have a group of people who spend countless hours together, it’s not the brightest idea to have strife amid them. Especially in our situation when you have to depend heavily on others to help carry the load that stems from our customers.

Chimney has long resented me. I made a horrible mistake when I first started working years ago. I was asked what my salary and grade were and I answered the question truthfully. It was a naive mistake to have made. Never tell anyone what you make. No good will ever come out of it. Someone out there always thinks they deserve more than you and that you shouldn’t be entitled to what you currently have. Chimney has long believed that he deserved to be of a higher standing than me and right now is trying his best to make my life at the branch as miserable as it can be. He wanted to use the new manager’s reputation to speed my resignation or transfer along. Because of her antics he thinks that I’m safe from that and eased up a little. He’s still being an annoyance in other ways.

I will divulge more on that later as it is now past my bedtime.

And so the World Cup ends with the French crying and Italians ecstatic. C’est la vie. Que sera sera. I’m sure that’s all the cùstomers will talk about for the next few days but here’s hoping that’ll be the end of it.

Were you happy with the results? Did you even care? To celebrate the end of the World Cup I guarantee you faithful readers 2 new posts tomorrow.

All the best,

Teller

"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. 

Dear Readers, 

First of all I'd like to extend my apologies to those who keep checking in for new material. I had to take a temporary leave of absence for personal reasons thus I won't be publishing any new tales until I return to the branch. My official leave is for two weeks. Depending on the situation at the end of those two weeks my leave may or may not be extended. Until then, this counter's closed.

Wishing you good health,

Teller

I finally did something and changed the blog's look. I hope this font is easier to read than the old theme. Please let me know what you think!

On occasion I'm obligated to escort my aunts on visitations. These occurances contain plenty of gossip, refreshments and pointed questions in regard to my job. The same women ripped me to shreds asking me which sector I wanted to join and which jobs I was applying to when I was first applying to jobs. They continue to do so after having held the same job for a few years now.

Have you ever had someone ask you what you do for a living and then look at you with pity when they hear your answer? It's a miserable feeling and I always swear to myself that I will never do that to anyone else. It's dismaying how often I've come face to face with this scenario. These malice-tinged inquiries hint that I should be disappointed in my job and despondent. Why would I settle for a job that anyone can do? By anyone, they mean predominantly those people without a college education or expats. Every time I'm placed in this environment I do my best to defend my job. It only serves to make the situation worse. They begin treating me like a addict in denial, tutting and shaking their heads.

I walk away feeling like I haven't accomplished anything. They continue to hold onto their prejudices and preconceptions. It doesn't matter one bit to them that I get fulfillment out of my job and that I love helping people day in and day out. Yes, customers frustrate me at times but I'm still doing this because when it comes down to it, I love my job. Maybe if I told them my monthly salary they would respect it more. Probably not. I don't see what joy people get out of belittling what others do. Miserable old cows.

Of course there are those that instantly light up at my answer and proceed to interrogate me on what credit card limits and loans they can get. It's always good to get a little business out of these visitations. I walk out feeling proud of the job I do and helping someone out. These aren't the moments that come to me when I go to bed. It's always the snide comments that I remember. How I wish it wasn't so!

When I first started applying for jobs my aunts would bring it up at every gathering we attended. All eyes would turn to me and the first question that people asked was, "حوكومه ولا خاص؟" ("Public or Private sector?")

It sounds like an innocent enough question. However, your answer could damn you in their eyes. If you chose 'public' when talking to someone in a private sector job you effectively label yourself as an under-achiever, an airhead, and persona non grata to their lofty opinions. Condescendingly, they would share their views on why the public sector is terrible and subsequently dismiss you as a lost cause.

On the other hand, telling someone in the public sector that you want to to work in the private sector will garner you a few different reactions. There are those who immediately jump into trying to talk you out of it. "Long hours!" "You can get fired at any moment!" "They will work you to death!" God forbid you have ambitions!

Some relatives who have cushy goverment jobs bemoaned the public sector insisting that the private sector was the way to go, while their eyes gloated at my unemployed state. Let others take the road to private sector, they had job security! Where else can people get paid for not showing up to work? Or better yet showing up, doing absolutely nothing and getting a high evaluation from their supervisors?

The private sector, they assured me, was the road to job fulfillment, higher self-esteem, and most importantly…more money.

"Go work in the banks!"
"…they have higher salaries."
"You will meet a lot of people!"
"…you will get paid everytime someone makes a deposit!"
"You can convince all your friends to open accounts!"
"…you will get incentives!"
"You will be recognized for the work you do!"
"…you will get bonuses!"
"It's the fastest way to make connections!"
"Trust us!"

I did.