I had a cool experience at the bank today. I needed to transfer money back to the states to make sure I can pay my mortgage next month. I'm sending enough for two months so I can do this every other month.
The bank wasn't horribly busy because I got there a bit earlier on a Monday. I sat down after grabbing a number out of a machine. Actually, it felt like I got the royal treatment. They noticed the giant American walk in and went into full "interpreter" mode. Mad scramble to find the one person in the bank that speaks "some" English. I was guided through some initial paperwork that had to be in triplicate. I had brought my own pre-filled-in form, but had to redo it in triplicate. Apparently I didn't get that memo about the TPS reports (looking directly at Durk right now wondering if he gets it).
I sat down to wait for my teller. My number was next. It's sort of crazy to watch the people that work here make a fuss from one customer to the next. They look like a swarm of worker bees. The elevated volumes and the rapid speech adds to the effect as they emphatically point while directing each other's attention to different items on paper and computer screens.
And then this older gentleman sits down a seat away from me. He's next after me. Much older. He's got the brown spots all over his scalp. Grandfather must have been 90. Perhaps older. We're the only two waiting and there's really only one working teller at the moment. My transaction is going to take some time to process. I don't want to make him wait along time. So I open my translator app and...
I made sure to hold my phone with both hands as is the custom to show honor to the person receiving the message. The young lady in the pants suit with high heels smiled at me in acknowledgement and I sat back down. She told the elderly gentlemen that he was next. He looked confused as he looked at the number on his little slip of paper. She explained. He struggled to get up and made his way towards me. No words. Just a deep bow of his head and a smile that said thanks. I made a sort of praying gesture with my hands and bowed my head too. No idea why. It just felt right. Easily the highlight of my day. Here he is with the teller.
And then it hit me. That was a big deal for me. And then I felt like a schmuck. There are people that do this everyday and don't have to write about it in their blog with a "hey everybody look at me being nice" sort of thing. I dunno. Maybe I'm playing up the fantasy of dreaming I'm representing Americans in a foreign land letting all the Chinese folk know we're not all self centered. I got two people taken care of today. Just a billion or so to go.
Added note. It was a good feeling to refer to the man as grandfather as is the custom here for the locals.