My most embarrassing experience in the bank

The bank is a place where we hold one monetary transaction or another, such as savings, withdrawals, exchanges, and the like. I've been to the bank on several occasions and had different experiences, ranging from good to bad to ugly. Today I'll be sharing one of my most unforgettable experiences at the bank.

Reminiscing on this particular memory, I actually felt embarrassed and ashamed of my actions, even though it was for my own good and probably the only way I could have probably got money to pay for my school fee bank then, and lols, that isn't what you're thinking, so try to hear me out first to know what I'm actually embarrassed about, because had I not done what I did, I might as well have had an extra year in the university then.

So without further ado, my most embarrassing experience happened about a decade ago when I was an undergraduate at the university. We were about to begin our examination, and the school management made it clear that they wouldn't be allowing any students who didn't pay their tuition fees to sit for the examination, so I had to call home to remind them of the need to send me my tuition fees on time as the exam would be starting in a few days.

Not long after that, dad secured a loan and sent my school fee into my bank account, and he told me he sent the money late at night that day, so I had to wait till the following morning before I could get access to the bank and pay into the school account. Unfortunately for me, by the next day, the CBN had made a decree that no bank should let another have access to their money in the bank unless they did the just-implemented BVN (bank verification number) registration.

This development led to all banks being filled up the next day, to the point where those who wanted to gain entrance to the bank formed a queue that reached outside the gate into the main road. That development led to each bank deciding to only attend to their customers alone, so after lining up for 3 hours and being told I wouldn't be attended to because I don't have an account with that particular bank, I'll have to travel from Epe to Ijebu Ode, where my bank branch is located.

By the time I got to Ijebu, it was almost 2 p.m., and I met a large crowd at the bank. That day went by without me being able to register and then get my money. Since the next day is Friday and the last work day before our examination begins on the following Monday, I decided to sleep in the bank so I'd be among the first to be attended to the next day. Well, I wasn't the only one who did, and by morning I still found myself at number 60+ on the queue.

The madman in me and others springs out gradually when the bank can't even attend to 20 people on the queue from early in the morning till around 1 p.m., and yet they keep finding a way to sneak in reputable and rich people who aren't on the queue inside the bank premises. Though I was furious, I kept my cool until the bank manager himself came out and announced that they wouldn't be able to attend to more than 20 more people in the queue and that everyone should go home until the following week.

Realizing this is a do-or-die affair or else I wouldn't be sitting for my exam, I didn't know when I left the line and grabbed the bank manager by his tie, telling him I wouldn't let him go unless he let me into the bank. The security even tried to beat me into leaving him, but I held firm and asked my other students to capture the incident of how I was being beaten by the bank staff. Seeing people bring out their phones to record, the bank manager became afraid and told the security to stop. He then properly listened to my plight.

I and the other students in the bank told him our story and the need for us to go in to do the registration so we could have access to our money and pay our school fee. After telling him, he was still a bit reluctant until I threatened to upload the video of how I was being beaten by his security under his watch. Realizing that might attract the attention of his head office and probably get him fired, he let all the students in, to go do the registration and pay our fee.

Although my actions made it possible for everyone of us to do the needful that helps make us worthy to sit for the examination, I felt embarrassed about my actions because, one, almost all the bank staff looked at me irritatively; another, other customers and even some of the students I fought for indirectly still made fun of me; and last but not least, the video did actually still spread among some students in my institution to the point where many made fun of how I was crying, got beaten, and still held onto the manager's shirt.

Getting mocked and laughed at for my actions was a hard pill to swallow, but I'm glad I did what I did because the institution didn't allow students who weren't able to pay their tuition fees to sit for the examination, and that affected many of them greatly.

That's about all I can say about my most embarrassing experience at a bank. The write-up was inspired by the Hive Naijq community prompt, which you can get more information about here.

NOTE: The first two thumbnails used were designed by me on canva.

Thanks so much for your support, stay bless.