Public Service Announcement

Cautionary tale folks,

Went to a Citizen's Bank this afternoon and since the line was so long, I used the ATM to make a deposit. 

The machine took my card, sucked in 2 $100 dollar bills, then proceeded to freeze. 

The tellers were able to retrieve my card but I have to wait until Tuesday to get my money back as that is when they reconcile all the money in the machine.

It should show an overage of that amount (I HOPE)

Needless to say, I was pissed off beyond belief. 

I don't blame the people who work at Citizen's and I was as polite as I could possibly be and they were very apologetic.

The money was birthday money I was using to pay off a credit card charge for a pair of boots. 

Imagine if that money was for something absolutely essential?

Some sort of payment that needed to be made

Money that needed to be in my account that day or first thing Monday morning.

I would be shit out of luck.

I'm grateful that I'm in a position where the temporary loss of that money is merely a minor inconvenience.

So, if you happen to be in a position where a deposit of cash or checks is a matter of the utmost importance, a matter of life or eviction,

DON'T USE THE ATM. 

(Remember Terminator? The machines hate you. Every last one of them.)

Wait in line. 

Get a printed receipt.

From a person.

I don't think that the convenience that would have saved me maybe 10-15 minutes of waiting was worth the two hundred bucks I may or may not get back in 3 days

While you are at it, if your friend gives you a tube of homemade lip balm to try,

Do not text them several hours later to tell them, as a joke, that you had an allergic reaction and your lips have swelled 2x their normal size.

It was right after that moment that my day went downhill so you could argue that I had that coming to me and I would agree that you are probably right.

Moral of the story: Don't have a machine do the work of an actual person if it's really important and bad jokes only bring bad karma.