bank gaffe number two...oh, when will this end???

Banking in Japan has NOT been an easy feat...from that day when I accidentally pushed the red someone-is-taking-my-money button (which I had mistaken for the help button) to another incident just this past Tuesday...ohh woe to me!

I was inserting a rather large deposit into the ATM, all the money from 27-members who'll participate in a ski trip I planned for later this month. I'm talking a LOT of money! So as it turns out, Japanese ATMs have a maximum capacity of 100-bills for deposits. As fate would have it, the number of bills I tried to insert was 101. Life is cruel. At the time, I didn't know why the machine rejected my transaction, the monitor was flashing and I pushed the button (not the red one) for assistance. Soon a lady came to my rescue, alas, just moments too late. The deposit box closed and my money disappeared into what seemed like a black hole. I had to tell the woman what had happened and she had to consult another employee on how to fix the botched up ATM.

I reluctantly stepped away from the ATM and they put an out-of-order sign on top of it to prevent other customers from using it. It was almost noon and people coming in to use the ATM machines seemed miffed by the extraordinarily long waiting time. I had to wait around for 2-3 hours before they counted and recounted the money, only to find that the machine came up with less than I thought I'd put in. *sigh* I suppose I should have double-checked and seen how much money was in that bundle but I didn't anticipate the >100 bills dilemma and expected the machine to do its counting magic. Oops.

Anyway the lady who dealt with me was very patient and didn't give me the usual "what a stupid foreigner" sigh of exasperation. I was relieved by that. So much that I am considering and giving her a token of my gratitude, like some nice tea or cookies. Come to think of it, I'm probably on that blacklist of bank customers. The girl who pushed the red button and the girl who jammed up the ATM for a whole afternoon. It's a surprise they don't rush to monitor me upon my entrance...that day will come soon, I am sure. Perhaps THAT is why the automatic sliding doors fail to open quickly enough when I enter or exit. (several times I have nearly smacked right into the doors)

So the conclusion? I have GOT to learn more Japanese-Chinese characters, kanji...so I know things like when the machine is telling me I've got way too many bills stuffed inside. Anyway it was a funny experience, I'll chalk it up as bank gaffe #2 in Japan. I suppose nothing more can top bank gaffe #1, pushing the red button.