The Clever Woman

Nurses Humor

Published Jun 25, 2004

AmyB

260 Posts

Specializes in LTC.

This was just too good to pass up. Maybe more of us should use this approach.

The letter to the bank, shown below, is an actual letter that was sent to a

bank by a 96 year old woman. The bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published in the New York Times.

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Dear Sir:

I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check with which I

endeavored to pay my plumber last month. By my calculations, three

nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the check and the

arrival in my account of the funds needed to honor it. I refer, of course,

to the automatic monthly deposit of my entire salary, an arrangement which,

I admit, has been in place for only eight years.

You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and

also for debiting my account $30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience

caused to your bank. My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this

incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that

whereas I personally attend to your telephone calls and letters, when I try

to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging,

pre-recorded, faceless entity which your bank has become. From now on, I,

like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person.

My mortgage and loan repayments will therefore and hereafter no longer be

automatic, but will arrive at your bank, by check, addressed personally and

confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate. Be

aware that it is an offense under the Postal Act for any other person to

open such an envelope. Please find attached an Application Contact Status

which I require your chosen employee to complete. I am sorry it runs to

eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank

knows about me, there is no alternative. Please note that all copies of

his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Notary Public, and

the mandatory details of his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets

and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof. In due course, I

will issue your employee with a PIN number which he/she must quote in

dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modeled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service.

As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Let me level the

playing field even further. When you call me, press buttons as follows:

01. To make an appointment to see me.

02. To query a missing payment.

03. To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.

04. To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping.

05. To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.

06. To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home.

07. To leave a message on my computer, a password to access my computer is required. Password will be communicated to you at a later date to the

Authorized Contact.

08. To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through 7

09. To make a general complaint or inquiry. The contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service.

While this may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the duration of the call. Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement.

May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous New Year?

Your Humble Client

(Remember:This was written by a 96 year old woman.) Pretty clever person.