A Bad Good Day*

OFF LINE was boldly written on a cardboard and hanged in front of the ATM machine.

"You may withdraw inside", said the guard but once inside I was told by the teller that I could only withdraw my money from a bank at the next town, a good 30 kilometers from where I was standing.

"You may also try the other bank across the street", volunteered the guard again. But when I went there my card was rejected by the machine.

I returned to the original bank, inquired when it could possibly be ON LINE. I was assured that after lunch it would be ready. So, I proceeded to Jollibee, ordered spaghetti and killed my time there. Suddenly, it rained and I didn't bring a raincoat or an umbrella. How could I go back to the bank?

I prepared myself for another horrendous experience. I just composed myself to be ready for the worst. "What could this day bring to me?" The money I was going to withdraw was very important to me because it was money, voluntarily offered by my son from his first formal earning in a foreign country.

When the rain stopped I walked nearer to the bank to find out if the armored car that will bring the money was already there. Seeing that the OFF LINE sign was still hanging I killed my time at 7/11 convenience store. And before the rain comes again I moved to the lobby of the bank to wait for the armored car. After about half an hour waiting the armored car came. That was the first time I closely observed how money was transferred from the car to the ATM machine.

I took another half hour for the security guards to scrutinize the vicinity before they opened the armored car. After that another fifteen minutes was lost before the the machine finally functioned. I was the first one to do the withdrawal.

That money smelled so sweet. I Thanked my son for it and told him I will use the money to buy something very important to me.