The Bank

by Suzanne Ali

One of the more confusing moments in Cagli came during a visit to the bank. I wanted to change 100 dollars to euros. I pushed on the glass door, but it didn’t move. The bank was open-- I could see tellers at their windows and customers at the counters. So I pushed on the door again. Again, it didn’t budge. The door was clearly locked. I stood at the door looking in, and a teller looked up and straight at me. I smiled, but she nonchalantly looked away and resumed her work. It was really awkward.

Then I watched a customer leave the bank. On the other side of the glass, she walked to my left, pushed a button, and stepped into a plexi-glass tube a few feet from the door I had been pushing on. The tube door closed on the inside of the bank, and reopened on the outside. She stepped out of the tube and left. Ohhhhh.

I approached the tube, pushed a small green button, and the door to the tube slid open in front of me. I stepped in. Once the outside door slid closed, the inside door opened. I stepped into the bank feeling like Scottie had just beamed me up.

I was surprised at the level of security just to get inside the bank. It felt more like I was passing through security at the airport than trying to change 100 bucks into Euros. Are they holding enormous amounts cash or gold bullion? Had there been a rash of bank robberies in Cagli? It seemed to illustrate a different Human-Nature Orientation than I am accustomed to. While bank robberies do indeed occur in the United States, I’ve never seen such security precautions taken in a U.S. bank. I’ve never considered my culture as a particularly trusting one, but comparing this Italian bank with my bank back home, it seems like we trust more in the innate goodness of people than they do in the Italian culture. Not sure how accurately this would translate across other situations in each culture, but as an American friend says, “People are good. Let’s not tempt them.”