Searching for the elusive ATMs

November 22, 2016

Lately I have noticed some truly bad behavior on my part. I am not sure if it is a thousand tiny injustices or a paradigm shift knowing that we are leaving. Yesterday I got annoyed and realized I was audibly grumbling like an old lady. Oh heck I am one! The first time was when I entered the only chain store I know that sells the one cereal we like here. It is a small store and has crowded aisles and checkout stands. I found the wanted item but it was on the top shelf. Keep in mind I am taller than most Indians. If I stood on my tip toes and stretched I could reach the cereal. However the shelf had a two inch lip requiring that I lift the box up over the lip in order to get it down making the task difficult. I hit another barrier because they had put a box on top of the wanted item, lying on its face giving next to no room to lift the box that was upright due to the low ceiling. So I started makes grumbling noises and saying things like ‘what a stupid thing to do’…I managed to get two boxes down but couldn’t get the third one because it was too far back to reach. When I can find this cereal I buy four to six boxes to save time and energy going to multiple outlets of this chain trying to find it in stock. Welcome to developing countries. Oddly this item is made in India, not imported from Australia or other parts of the globe. So with my two boxes of cereal I walked towards the checkout counter and saw a woman racing to get in front of me. Again I made a rude comment that was audible but I doubt comprehensible to anyone but me. I think I may have said ‘bitch’ but don’t remember. I came home and told Ron I needed to get out of here before I became a truly ugly American visitor. These episodes are a lead in to what happened today to put me in my place and to remember that I am in Incredible India because it is incredible: both ways!

As I have mentioned the country is in a struggle to overcome the storage of cash due to the monetary change ten days ago. We still have long lines at banks and ATMs. Banks and ATMs run out of cash daily. With 1.3 billion people here the lines are unreal. Today I went to the mall where I can usually find an ATM with cash. Neither one had any this noon. So I went back around 3:00 and there were 25 people in line ahead of me. I started talking with two men from Bombay who were here for a conference. One of them went to the front because some people bring multiple cards and withdraw cash for others I assume but they take up a lot of time. So this man decided to monitor the machine and tell people two withdrawals only because the wait was so long. He met a friend in line and signaled the other man beside me to join him. The line was moving at a snail’s pace and I wondered if I would have to send Rahul on to pick up Ron then come back for me. The first man I was speaking with signaled for me to come forward and so did the security guard. I went up and he said you are next. I assume because I was the only ‘old lady’ in line. Most Indians, men and women dye their hair when it turns gray. I stand out with my lovely gray locks. I was so embarrassed to move ahead of everyone but all those near the machine were most gracious and no one seemed to mind.  So again I was reminded of Incredible India…the other way. Hopefully I will stop grumbling now! Note: We went to dinner with friends a few days later and one of the people with us works for the World Bank and is doing some project with CEPT. When I told him the story he said he didn’t think it had anything to do with my age but that Indians  think foreigners should not have to endure the inconvenience since they have nothing to do with the black money. Interesting perspective. The two other Indians present agreed with him.