There is something about ATMs. They exert this powerful effect on our nervous systems. Outwardly, they emit some kind of radiation that makes us nervy and restless. Step into this aura and you will immediately find yourself fidgeting, tapping your feet and making little exasperated noises. Your face will rearrange itself into a long-suffering expression. You will experience a strong urge to hammer on the glass door that separates the inside of the ATM from the rest of the world.
But pass through that door and everything changes. Your very metabolism slows down.It is an enchanted domain, the closest thing to Rip Van Winkle's Sleepy Hollow that we will ever experience in real life. You enter a torpid, trance-like state. Your movements become slow and cautious, every action appears to be the outcome of some long and complex process of deliberation and calculation. Is that really a 6 there on the keyboard, or could it actually be that a 9 has been cunningly stood on its head? Is that a 2 or has a treacherous Z sneaked in among the array of numbers? Others may get fooled, but you will not be taken in by any of this low trickery.
Despite all your caution, midway through this hazardous procedure you become aware that you have probably overlooked some particularly diabolical ruse to entrap you, and you search for the CANCEL key. Only after you have made sure several times over that you are not letting yoursel be tricked into pressing the wrong key to confirm the rip-off, you allow your finger to settle on CANCEL and, after a minute's further consideration, apply pressure on it. Then you start the whole procedure afresh, thanking your stars that you were alert enough to have evaded a devilish stratagem to rob you of your hard-earned income.
After fifteen minutes you emerge triumphantly with the thrice-counted money safely stowed away in a place where you would like to see even the most experienced mugger find it. Pleased with yourself, you saunter past the hostile faces lined up outside the ATM. The sunshine feels good and you take a deep breath.
It's strange, the power of ATMs. Surely a fit subject for serious investigation by parapsychologists.
About Me
- jmanj
- Vadodara aka Baroda, Gujarat, India
- Known to own one cycle and no cats, dogs or significant other species. Other attributes largely unknown. Has been observed to poke around among plants, but not known to be fond of gardening. Possibly a latent herbivore. Habitat uncertain, probably adapted to living in vicinity of humans; shows well-developed ability to evade traffic. Social life may exist in rudimentary form - appears to be mostly solitary, but has been observed occasionally to associate in small groups with other individuals of the same species.
1 comment:
Interesting. Having gotten used to seeing stand-along, plug-in, mini-ATMs in every supermarket and most gas stations all over the US, I never think about the sanctum they inhabit back in India! Will they ever break free and mingle with the cash register and the gas pump?
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