An Argument at the ATM

I go to the bank on Yesterday. The bank is closed because of Columbus Day or something. So I drive up to the ATM to get some cash. There is a pickup truck in front of me already at the ATM. Inside the truck are a man and woman. He’s in the driver’s seat, she is the passenger. They look like husband and wife; perhaps in their 50’s. After sitting there a few minutes, it appears he is having trouble with the machine. It looks like she is getting impatient and begins fussing at him. He starts fussing back. It gets very animated inside the cab and now the truck is rocking from side-to-side. I’m sitting there witnessing all this through my windshield while listening to Fleetwood Mac, when suddenly the passenger door flies open and she jumps out, purse in hand, and starts out on foot across the parking lot. I’m thinking, “Uh oh, she’s ticked off about something.” I’m sure the people in the car behind were thinking the same thing too! Then the man starts punching the keypad on the ATM through his pickup truck window. It looks like the situation is escalating. I’m thinking, “Uh oh, he’s ticked off too.” About that time he drops the gear shifter into drive and pulls out… catches up with his wife in the parking lot…. pulls up along side there… and they start having a shouting match right there in the parking lot! So I pull up to the ATM, reach out through the window and attempt to insert my ATM card into the little slot. But it won’t go in. I’m thinking, “Great, this guy has smashed the machine with his fist and I can’t get any money.” But then I notice on the view-screen these words, “Would you like another transaction.” I press the “no” button. Out pops this lady’s ATM card that she had left behind. Then out pops a personal check that he was attempting to deposit for her – a check for $8.47!

Then I started getting the picture….

Like most men, he was ATM illiterate. She wanted to deposit a personal check. Since he was on the driver’s side, he was the one who had to conduct the transaction. He got frustrated with the machine. She got frustrated with him for not doing it like she told him to do. It resulted in a major argument and a public spectacle. All this over eight dollars and forty-seven cents.

By now the shouting scene has stopped because he scratches off leaving rubber in the parking lot. She takes off on foot again. I honk my horn to get her attention. She looks back at me and I’m waving her check and ATM card up high for her to see. She walks over to my car window and says, “Thank you sir,” then takes off on foot down Hwy 90.

All this over $8.47. It was kind of sad. I felt sorry for both of them.