Trivial Things That Annoy You — Rules in Post #1

What the hell has happened banks in the past three months?! (my last time in one)

I just walked into the Bank of Ireland in Montrose/UCD and it was all upside down, full of machines and snugs of various sort where customers sat on their own. I looked for the cashier and not a sign of him/her. Two auld fellas were there and they were both fiercely bemused at the comings and goings of this "bank". They were looking under the enclosed things to see if they could see human feet and if they belonged to a BofI official. We had no queue; the three of us were down the back at the wall standing up chatting and looking around as if it was 1980 and we were at mass. I then noticed a BofI official walking around and going into the people in said snugs.

Finally, one of these elusive BofI people approached me and I explained my atm card was missing and I just wanted to withdraw cash the old-fashioned way. She looked at me pitifully and explained that they don't deal with actual cash in the bank anymore. And that this is the new Bank of Ireland way since last month. This was 15:50 and she said I had 10 minutes to find another bank that is old-fashioned enough to deal with actual money as we used to understand it.

I drove up to Blackrock, made it in the door at 15:59 and was delighted with myself to have made it just before the weekend closing. To my horror that branch, too, was taken over by machines. A man appeared and explained, again with kindness, that what I was looking for belonged to an old time - yes, a definite Oisín i ndiaidh na féinne moment! - and I would now have to wait until next Monday to find a bank branch which actually gives people cash.

Time to raid my coin jar this weekend!