They Should Have Taken Note(book)

My mum and I go to the bank to get some cash and she notices her notebook — the one connected to the bank account that you can use to take out money — only has one page left.

We walk over to the desk and she asks the girl for a new one, giving her the old notebook inside the case. The case she has was issued many years ago, and because we keep everything at our house, we are still using it. It’s quite old; in fact it has the name of a bank that no longer exists on it, but it’s made of thick plastic and it works great. It’s also a bit wider than the ones issued nowadays so it’s more comfortable when you need to carry lots of stuff.

The girl from the bank issues a new notebook and gives the old one to my mum, who is now holding the old case so she can put the new notebook in. The girl sees it, grabs the case from her hand, and holds it over the bin while saying, “Oh, that’s an old one; I’ll give you another one,” and then proceeds to drop it in the trash.

My mum and I must look so shocked to have some stranger grab it out of her hand and throw it away that she offers to get it back for us. We say no, though, because who knows what was in the trash?

I’ve dealt with her before, and I can assure this is not because she had an off day. It’s a pity to see someone with no social skills deal with people every day.