# Do you mean the bank has no more money or are you just fucking lazy?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-mean-the-bank-has-no-more-money-or-are-you-just-fucking-lazy/137409
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [November 18, 2002, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-mean-the-bank-has-no-more-money-or-are-you-just-fucking-lazy/137409 "2002-11-18T23:23:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2002, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-mean-the-bank-has-no-more-money-or-are-you-just-fucking-lazy/137409/21 "2002-11-19T16:58:09Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by FairyChatMom \*
> \*\*Last week, one of my cubemates was trying to break a $20 - no one in the office had enough. I suggested he go to the credit union. He looked at me like I was insane.
> \*\*
My credit union was awful. You could deposit a check, but not get cash back. If you wanted cash, you HAD to use the ATM.
That’s right, you could deposit a check, but they would **not** give you back any cash. You had to turn around and walk 20 feet to the ATM and withdraw your cash.
No wonder your coworker looked at you like that. I think I know where he banks.
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### Author:  [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2002, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-mean-the-bank-has-no-more-money-or-are-you-just-fucking-lazy/137409/22 "2002-11-19T17:24:22Z")
Well, a building society with no readily available cash is a place that is less likely to get robbed.
Makes more sense security wise.
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### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2002, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-mean-the-bank-has-no-more-money-or-are-you-just-fucking-lazy/137409/23 "2002-11-19T17:32:45Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by BiblioCat \*
> \*\*No wonder your coworker looked at you like that. I think I know where he banks. \*\*
Nah - the Credit Union here on base is the best. I’ve been a member for nearly 20 years and I’ve always gotten excellent service. In fact, it’s almost to the point where I call up and say “I need a loan to buy a car” and they say “OK, shall we mail the check or do you want to pick it up?” Believe me, that’s barely exaggerated. They’ve always made change for me gladly.
No, my coworker is just an idiot.
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### Author:  [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2002, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-mean-the-bank-has-no-more-money-or-are-you-just-fucking-lazy/137409/24 "2002-11-19T17:45:35Z")
As to the OP, I’d say that the teller was a definite smeghead.
As to the notion of calling in ahead for change – speaking as a former teller, I can say that there are good reasons for this, and evil is not among them.
Most people are under the impression that bank are endless vaults of billions in cash, and that most of this is in tellers’ drawers. Not so. Branches are required to keep less than X amount on hand, as are tellers. This is for security and insurance reasons. And a teller needs to keep a variety of denominations available for a variety of transactions. Which means that a teller is unlikely to have $300 in quarters available at any random time. (And forget about “impractical” money like 2’s or halves.)
So if a customer asks for $300 in quarters, why can’t the Teller just grab it from the vault? The money in a bank is not a free-for-all slush fund. It’s not just a big pool of cash. All bankers are responsible for their own instruments, and any changing of hands must be well documented by other instruments.
So if a customer asked me for a lot of change, I would have to close my drawer, logoff, fill out a form, seek out the assistant manager, ask her to open the vault, count out the change, make the transaction, log on, open my drawer, then dispense the coinage. This takes time. Sometimes a good 5-10 minutes, during which a whole line of customers is getting very impatient.
With the advance call, we could have done all that during the slow times, and had coinage and a smile waiting for the customer. (We also didn’t have an 800 number – business customers had a direct line to the business teller for just such things.)
So, far from creating beurocracy for the sake of being Pure Evil™, we were really trying to offer the best customer service that we could. And we were always trying to think up better ways to improve that service. Hell, we bent over backwards for every customer, within reason.
The lazy bitch in the OP sounds like just that – a lazy bitch. I’m sure that she was not representative of the bank’s ideal teller.
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### Author:  [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2002, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-mean-the-bank-has-no-more-money-or-are-you-just-fucking-lazy/137409/25 "2002-11-19T17:59:40Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by tdn \*
> \*\*
> So if a customer asked me for a lot of change, I would have to close my drawer, logoff, fill out a form, seek out the assistant manager, ask her to open the vault, count out the change, make the transaction, log on, open my drawer, then dispense the coinage. This takes time. Sometimes a good 5-10 minutes, during which a whole line of customers is getting very impatient.
>
> \*\*
I get that, but this was a little dinky bank branch with like 3 teller windows, the manager at a desk right behind them, and the vault right behind that. And I was only getting like $50 in quarters and $100 in singles. And I was the only person in that line (because I was in the business transaction line, don’tcha know.) She was just being a wanker, methinks. (Or maybe she had transferred in from a bigger branch where it WAS a hassle to get change? Oh well.)
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### Author:  [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2002, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-mean-the-bank-has-no-more-money-or-are-you-just-fucking-lazy/137409/26 "2002-11-19T18:19:46Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by voguevixen \*
> **I get that, but this was a little dinky bank branch with like 3 teller windows, the manager at a desk right behind them, and the vault right behind that.**
So was the branch where I was. It can still be a hassle.
> [@](#):
>
> **And I was only getting like $50 in quarters and $100 in singles.**
Believe it or not, that can still be a lot. Especially if you started out the day with $100 in quarters and $200 in singles and had two business customers already.
> [@](#):
>
> \*\*And I was the only person in that line (because I was in the business transaction line, don’tcha know.) \*\*
Never underestimate the power of setting policy. We would often tell people the rules even if they didn’t apply at the time so we could set expectations. But of course, if we had the change on hand we would hand it over, while simultaneously saying “But next time, could you please…” But in your case,
> [@](#):
>
> \*\*She was just being a wanker \*\*
Quite possibly.
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### Author:  [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2002, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-mean-the-bank-has-no-more-money-or-are-you-just-fucking-lazy/137409/27 "2002-11-19T21:23:36Z")
So how come the big fuss about someone who wants to buy a single roll of quarters?
Is $10 that big a deal?
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### Author:  [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2002, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-mean-the-bank-has-no-more-money-or-are-you-just-fucking-lazy/137409/28 "2002-11-19T21:44:54Z")
[hijack]
Here’s what I’ve noticed. There are only two industries on the planet, that I can think of, where the customer is never right: insurance and banking.
Insurance: You have to prove your claim isn’t fraudulent. You are guilty until you prove yourself innocent.
Banking: If the bank makes a mistake, you have to prove it yourself. They forgot to credit that $2,000 deposit you just made? Too bad, unless you kept a receipt.
I should go start another thread on this. Drives me nuts.
[/hijack]
Regarding the OP: I go to the grocery store for change. ::shrugs:: I dunno if Publix would make change in that quantity for you… but I’d certainly look into it if I were you.
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### Author:  [@EchoKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EchoKitty)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2002, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-mean-the-bank-has-no-more-money-or-are-you-just-fucking-lazy/137409/29 "2002-11-19T22:01:50Z")
No one liked my nipple joke.☹
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### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2002, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-mean-the-bank-has-no-more-money-or-are-you-just-fucking-lazy/137409/30 "2002-11-19T22:05:23Z")
I licked it …er… liked it. 😉
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### Author:  [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2002, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-mean-the-bank-has-no-more-money-or-are-you-just-fucking-lazy/137409/31 "2002-11-19T22:23:22Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by EchoKitty \*
> \*\*“Yeah, I’d like a dollar in nipples…er…nickels, please.” \*\*
THIS JOKE SUCKS!
😉
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