At the start of a promising financial careeer
Please, don’t give the important job to the new kid in the office. For the sake of the rest of us.
Had a phone call from someone at a bank. Not my bank; that’s just a minor detail. This had to do with getting a signature on a document, and the kid on the phone had this covered. “We will have you drive over and sign things in our office”. OK.
Letting him know (Kevin, to put a name on a voice) that it would require my driving two days, each way, and that I was blind, was just a detail. He had a responsibility to get this done. Fast forward, five minutes. Kevin’s supervisor, on the phone. Just to let me know that Kevin was clueless, and that someone who actually understood geography, would be in touch to find a more reasoned way of getting a signature on a document. I am glad that Kevin is at the start of his promising career. Imagine if this was a demonstration of a lifetime of experience.
No matter. In reality, it’s not my signature that was required. I just happened to answer a ringing telephone. They make movies about things like this, although the stakes are much higher. Fun fact: Stephen Leacock wrote a wonderful short story about the clueless nature of bank officials. I am glod to see that we are still at the same point, more than a century later. Stability in finance is important. I used to wonder why this particular tale was important enough to be included in my education. Now, I understand.
