Banking hall drama
The other day I talked about evident ‘corruption or favouritism during shopping. Shop attendants are at times seen either going back store to bring merchandise on special offers to customers they are familiar with or deliberately hiding the same from view to get kickbacks from those who request for them. This leaves out the unpopular ones or those unwilling to part with a little something when accessing some shops.
Well, I witnessed a scenario in one of the banks on Tuesday, which was far from unpleasant. A man, possibly of Asian origin walked into the banking hall carrying a box and carrier bag, seemingly loaded with cash. He walked past a group of law abiding citizens who were shifting slowly, but surely on a long queue. Their faces were far from patient or amused and when this man went straight to a teller to deposit, all hell broke loose. One bloke did not hide his discontent and he begun ranting about why this particular customer was being tolerated at the expense of those that had been waiting for a long time.
“Are you doing that because his white? These people can never favour you in their own countries. In fact, they are a cruel lot and here you are ignoring even this elderly man seated here simply because that one has money? If there are kickbacks you received from him, then don’t’ do it openly. Otherwise you may ignite something in the rest of us. He needs to stand in line and should not be assisted before the rest of us,” said the man.
Before long, another stood up and went straight to the teller that was supposed to be assisting him. He claimed to have seen the white fellow enter the banking hall, head straight for this woman to deposit when everyone else was seated. He also requested for this man to await his turn before irking everyone else.
The men’s actions paid off and the guard intervened before the white customer was ushered onto a seat, amid further uproar about who he thought he was to jump the gun. Eventually he was called to the offices behind the tellers, leaving the others to speculate about what transpired. But before he disappeared to wherever, the courageous man shouted, “Yeah. Go right behind and exchange the corruption behind our backs. We don’t care as long as we all get equal treatment.”
The above scenario best serves my argument about preferential treatment accorded some customers. If these two men had not spoken out against the nature of transaction, both the bank and this white friend would have gotten away with it, leaving people murmuring. What happened was an embarrassment to the institution and it if it was serious about its reputation, it would have investigated further for appropriate action. Of course, this favoritism is not biased to whites, it happens every time with different races.
The point here is, this biasness ought to stop and that anybody disfranchised must not hesitate to stand up against the vice. Equal rights for all. n
