Well, I never really was, but the kids didn’t know that. All children see their parents as some super-heroes, who can right any wrong. From screwing the doll’s head back on to kissing the boo-boo and admonishing the bike or the stone that caused it.
But then children start seeing parents aren’t all that great and they have no magical powers. And there’s many fights they cannot win…
Only this morning I went out to battle the corrupt financial system (really just a trip to the bank), but I came home utterly dejected and beaten. I won’t bother you with the details, it wasn't really dramatic, just a transfer I was making on behalf of elderly relatives, it wasn’t even my money, but I took all the humiliation. In Romania, we have a very graphic phrase for this kind of situation - I came back both screwed and with my money taken. Or as George Carlin put it ‘bleeding from the ass’. (I couldn't use this as a title, could I?)
When I left home I was determined to demand an explanation from the bank lady as to why they took some money from the account and canceled the transaction altogether. Only she had an explanation - the account had been dormant and empty for over a year so, naturally, there were fees to be paid. Perfectly legal, I know. No point in yelling at the stupid girl, she doesn’t own the bank. The people who do own the bank, those I cannot yell at. Nor can I explain that charging me $40 for basically doing nothing with my account is theft. Since I haven’t used their services in any way, that account is nothing but some numbers in a file in the system. It’s just bytes on a computer. The only justification would be if they had an employee who’d regularly check up on all the neglected accounts, telling them to hang in there for their owner will surely be back soon and they’ll serve their purpose some day….
So, I know it’s bloody theft to be charged for nothing, but there’s nothing I can do. The system is rotten and I came back ‘tail between my legs’ as we say here. And shared my humiliation. I know it’s theft, the girl at the bank knows it, everybody knows it and there’s nothing I can do about it. Just accept these are the rules and tell my children this is the world they're going to live in, these are the rules... and, I don't know, wish them luck, maybe, as that's all I can do for them.
I did consider telling the bank clerk she will probably lose her job when enough people wise up to all these scams and move to alternative money transactions, but that would have been petty and besides maybe she knows how to avoid the banking system’s pitfalls but there are so many other ways the system as a whole can screw you over. Surely there’s days when she, too, gets home ‘bleeding from the ass’.
Not exactly the video I was looking for, but a small dose of Carlin made me feel much better. After all, there are millions out there who don’t even know why their butts hurt.
