When You Should Check If They Need Protection
I work as a teller in a bank. An elderly customer comes in.
Customer: “My checks have been bouncing recently, and I’d like to know why?”
Me: “Okay. I can handle that for you. Do you have enough funds in your account to handle your obligations?”
Customer: “Eh?”
Me: “Is there enough money in your account to cover the amounts of the checks?”
Customer: “I’m afraid I don’t quite understand.”
Me: “Here, can I have your account number?”
Customer: “What do you mean by account number?”
Me: “…May I see one of your checks?”
Customer: “Oh! Yes, here’s some of the checks that bounced.”
He pulls a wad of papers out of his pocket. They are, in fact, rejected check notifications from various sources. The common thread is ‘insufficient funds in account’.
I look up his account from the information he gave me, just to confirm, and, indeed, his funds are much lower than many of the checks he’s been writing. What’s interesting is that he usually gets a deposit every month, but recently he hasn’t been.
Me: “Did you recently quit a job?”
Customer: “No. I’ve been retired for a long time.”
Me: “Did you lose a pension recently?”
Customer: “No. I never had one of those.”
Me: “How about Social Security?”
Customer: “Yes. I’ve been getting the checks every month.”
Me: “Have you been depositing them?”
Customer: “I… don’t understand.”
Me: “Do you happen to have your Social Security checks on you?”
Customer: “No. I gave them to my landlord to pay my rent.”
Me: “Okay then. Do you have a friend or family member who can help you with these things?”
Customer: “No. I’ve been all alone since my wife passed.”
Me: “Okay. So, for now, please go home and relax. I’m going to call Adult Protective Services for you. There will be someone over to help you soon, okay?”
Customer: “Okay.”
He then went and stood awkwardly in the corner as though he was waiting for a bank employee to come out and help him.
I called Adult Protective Services, and fortunately, it didn’t take long for them to send someone over to help, especially since he didn’t want to go home without ‘being helped’.
A few days later, a social worker came by with his social security checks that he’d been handing to the landlord in order to cash them into his account, and for my part, I made sure his overdraft fees were waived.
It’s important to treat everyone with compassion and understanding, because you don’t know what they’re going through, even if they’re behaving in a ‘stupid’ way.
