Eternity at the atm booths

The ATM machine is a very convenient way to ‘self-serve’ oneself with a continuous flow of cash especially with the current inflation rate being on the rise. It also saves many from the long queues and fake smiles of the bank tellers in the banking halls. Added is the advantage of withdrawing money anytime of the day or night. While we thank God for the modernisation that brought us the machines, some cheeky nay outright annoying persons have made using the machines a tough choice. Woe unto you, should you be in a hurry. These characters will spend eternity staring at the machine, leaving others to wonder whether they are waiting for the machine to speak to them. Or maybe they have not made up their minds on exactly how much they need to get from the machine. Unbelievably some will even get on their phones seeking advice from their spouses on how much they should withdraw. Others will even turn the machine into a child’s play, inserting the card every now and then. They will seek their account balance, study it then ask for bank statement and get back to their actual balance before asking for other services. At times the temptation to walk up to such fellows and ask them to step aside and make their minds away from the machine gives rise to unpleasant exchanges. “Niba wihuta wagombaga kuba waraje ejo (If you are so much in a hurry, you should have come yesterday),” they rudely answer back. Maybe the different banks with ATM machines would be better advised to have a time limit for the use of the machines which if exceeded the machines will detain the cards. This is the only way to deal with such annoying characters. dedantos2002@yahoo.com