I have enjoyed the services of the same bank for the last 60 years. They are the basic services no more and no less. The Bank does well enough out of my custom, I don't doubt, and I have no serious complaint. I like it no more and no less than any other bank. The personal relationship which used to exist between bank and client meanwhile has vanished. I can't say that I know a manager who looks after my account and takes a personal interest in me, as I used to feel in the past, though I was then just as poor as I am now. The one thing that I have noticed is that at the least opportunity a charge of some kind is added for routine extra services. Fair enough banks have to live. So when last night a telephone call from a market research organisation some answers to questions about the services provided by the bank I was quick to decline. "If you could set aside 15 -20 minutes now or at some other time", the young woman said. Sorry I couldn't. But when I put the phone down an esprit del'escalier hit me. Of course I thought I should have accepted the invitation and mentioned in passing my interview fee of £30.00 a minute. Not unreasonable. Retired old farts like banks have to earn a living.
I think to myself listening to the news: "When politicians begin to talk about morality it is time to take cover."
2 comments:
I certainly agree with your final comment about politicians and morality. "The present situation in Syria is unacceptable," quoth the foreign secretary. It's taken two-and-a-half years to get to that conclusion? And if it was deemed unacceptable at the beginning (as it was), how is it that in reality it has been accepted for two-and-a-half years? I would suggest that if western governments have enough money to engage in a military conflict with Syria (in which Israel may well be the prime target for retaliatory strikes) perhaps they could use that money to help the neighbouring countries who are trying to deal with the ongoing refugee crisis. When will the West learn that we are not the arbiter of the world's morals, no matter how much we abhor what we see.
As I said in my email response, je suis d'accord.
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