Patience is a Virtue

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"Patience is a virtue," according to the well known proverb. In retirement, time is more abundant and with it patience too. I certainly proved that yesterday when I visited the bank to close the account to which I referred in this blog last week. My visit took 1 hour and 10 minutes; so long that I was offered a chair!

Unfortunately it seemed that not only did the Building Society with which I had originally opened the account no longer exist after being taken over by the bank which I was visiting, but also: staff were unfamiliar with the workings of their new computer system; my account had been branded as dormant; because the account was in the surname I was born with and have used professionally (as opposed to my married name which I use more frequently now), identity appeared to be a tricky issue notwithstanding production of my driving licence, passport, birth and marriage certificates together with proof of signature and my ability to hand over all paperwork relating to the account.

In my pre-retirement days the hassle and time needed to sort the account was such that yesterday I certainly felt justified in putting it to one side until retirement. Indeed as I waited I imagined what my reaction would have been at the prospect of a whole seventy minutes eaten up by painstakingly slow bureaucracy, when I was perhaps working to a deadline. Somehow I was not certain that I would have lasted the wait.

However with the rest of the day's commitments already fulfilled, my time in the bank was neither stressful nor irritating. The staff were extremely polite and trying their best to be helpful. In those circumstances I felt, therefore, that I had no alternative but to be patient.

Ultimately I was rewarded twice over; firstly with a cheque for the closing balance and secondly with an undeniable feeling of virtuosity: a just return for the patience and reserve that I can now so ably demonstrate.


Comments

Debra Journet said…
It is interesting how different time feels now. I used to get so irritated when I was expected to wait at home for a repair person and given a four or six hour window. (And I had a job with a lot of flexibility.). It still annoys me, but it's more on principle than experientially. I guess that's a good thing.
19 February 2015 at 20:08
Caree Risover said…
Shoddy service and working practices are always irritating. At least I had the comfort of knowing that the staff were giving me their attention and that I was partially responsible for the problem they were resolving.
19 February 2015 at 21:42
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