2.The Boy and the Bank Officer(902)

Passage Two

Philip Ross, born in 1939, is a writer from New York. His writings have been featured in famous magazines like The New Yorker, Reader's Digest, and The New York Times. His piece in "Strategies for Successful Writing" shares a touching story about a bank clerk, teaching us to trust what we see.

菲利普·罗斯，生于1939年，是一位来自纽约的作家。他的作品曾在《纽约客》、《读者文摘》和《纽约时报》等著名杂志上刊登。他在《成功写作的策略》中分享了一个关于银行职员的感人故事，教会我们相信所见。

The Boy and the Bank Officer

Philip Ross

【1】I have a friend who hates banks with a special passion, “A bank is just a store-like a candy store or a grocery store," he says. “The only difference is that a bank's goods happen to be money, which is yours in the first place. If banks were required to sell wallets and money belts, they might act less like churches.”

【2】I began thinking about my friend the other day as I walked into a small, overlit branch office on the West Side. I had come to open a checking account.

It was lunchtime and the only officer on duty was a fortyish black man with short, pressed hair, a pencil mustache, and a neatly pressed brown suit. Everything about him suggested a carefully dressed authority.

【3】This officer was standing across a small counter from a young white boy who was wearing a V-neck sweater, khakis, and loafers. He had sandy hair, and I think I was especially aware of him because he looked more like a kid from a prep school than a customer in a West Side bank.The boy continued to hold my attention because of what happened next.

【4】He was holding an open savings-account book and wearing an expression of open dismay. “But I don't understand," he was saying to the officer. “I opened the account myself, so why can't I withdraw any money?”

【5】“I've already explained to you," the officer told him, “that a fourteen-year-old is not allowed to withdraw money without a letter from his parents.”

【6】“But that doesn’t seem fair,” the boy said, his voice breaking. “It's my money. I put it in. It's my account.”

“I know it is,”the officer said,“but those are the rules. Now if you'll excuse me.”He turned to me with a smile. “May I help you, sir?”

【7】I didn't think twice. “I was going to open a new account," I said, “but after seeing what's going on here, I think I've changed my mind.”

【8】“Excuse me?" he said.“Look,”I said. “If I understand what's going on here correctly, what you're saying is that this boy is old enough to deposit his money in your bank but he's not old enough to withdraw it. And since there doesn't seem to be any question as to whether it's his money or his account, the bank’s so-called policy is clearly ridiculous.”

【9】“It may seem ridiculous to you,”he replied in a voice rising slightly in irritation, “but that is the bank's policy and I have no other alternative but to follow the rules.”

【10】The boy had stood hopefully next to me during this exchange, but now I was just as helpless. Suddenly I noticed that the open savings book he continued to grasp showed a balance of about $100. It also showed that there had been a series of small deposits and withdrawals.

【11】I had my opening.

“Have you withdrawn money before by yourself?” I asked the boy.

“Yes,” he said.

I moved in for the kill.

“How do you explain that?” I zeroed in on the officer. “Why did you let him withdraw money before, but not now?”

He looked annoyed. “Because the tellers were not aware of his age before and now they are. It's really very simple.”

【12】I turned to the boy with a shrug. “You're really getting cheated,” I said. “You ought to get your parents to come in here and protest.”

The boy looked destroyed. Silently, he put his savings book in a rear-pocket and walked out of the bank.

The officer turned to me. “You know," he said,” “you really shouldn't have interfered.”

【13】“Shouldn't have interfered?” I shouted. “Well, it damn well seemed to me that he needed someone to represent his interests.”

“Someone was representing his interests," he said softly.

“And who might that be?”

“'The bank.”

【14】I couldn’t believe what this idiot was saying. “Look,”I concluded, “we're just wasting each other's time. But maybe you'd like to explain exactly how the bank was representing that boy's interests?”

【15】“Certainly," he said. “We were informed this morning that some neighborhood bully has been shaking this boy down for more than a month. The other guy was forcing him to take money out every week and hand it over, The poor kid was apparently too scared to tell anyone. That's the real reason he was so upset. He was afraid of what the other guy would do to him. Anyway, the police are on the case and they'll probably make an arrest today.”

【16】“You mean there is no rule about being too young to withdraw money from a savings account?”“Not that I ever heard of, Now, sir, what can we do for you?”

男孩和银行职员

【1】我有一个朋友特别讨厌银行，他说:“银行就是一家商店，就像糖果店或杂货店一样。”“唯一的区别是，银行的货物恰好是钱，而钱首先是你的。如果银行被要求出售钱包和钱袋，它们可能就不会像教会那样行事了。”

【2】有一天，当我走进位于纽约西区的一间灯光昏暗的小办公室时，我开始想起我的朋友。我是来开一个支票账户的。

午饭时间，唯一值班的职员是一个四十来岁的黑人，头发剪得很短，留着铅笔胡子，穿着一套熨得整整齐齐的棕色西装。他身上的一切都表明他是一位衣着考究的权威。

【3】这位职员站在一个小柜台对面，对面是一个穿着v领毛衣、卡其裤和便鞋的白人小男孩。他有一头沙色的头发，我想我特别注意到他，因为他看起来更像一个预科学校的孩子，而不是西区银行的顾客。因为接下来发生的事情，这个男孩继续吸引着我的注意力。

【4】他手里拿着一本打开的储蓄存折，脸上露出一副沮丧的表情。“但我不明白，”他对职员说。“我自己开的账户，为什么不能取钱呢?”

【5】“我已经向你解释过了，”职员告诉他，“一个14岁的孩子没有父母的信是不允许取钱的。”

【6】“但这似乎不公平，”男孩说，他的声音有些颤抖。“这是我的钱。我把它放进去。这是我的账户。”

“我知道，”职员说，“但这是规定。现在请原谅我。”他微笑着转向我。“我能为您效劳吗，先生?”

【7】我没有多想。“我本来打算开一个新账户的，”我说，“但看到这里发生的事情后，我想我改变主意了。”

【8】“你说什么?”他说。“看,”我说。“如果我理解正确的话，你的意思是这个男孩已经到了可以把钱存到你的银行的年龄，但他还没有到可以取钱的年龄。既然这是他的钱还是他的账户，似乎没有任何问题，银行的所谓政策显然是荒谬的。”

【9】“这在你看来可能很荒谬，”他回答说，声音因恼怒而略微提高，“但这是银行的政策，我别无选择，只能遵纪守法。”

【10】在这次交流中，那个男孩满怀希望地站在我旁边，但现在我也一样无助。突然，我注意到他继续握着的那本打开的存折上显示有大约100美元的余额。它还显示，有一系列小额存款和取款。

【11】我有了个机会。

“你以前自己取过钱吗?”我问男孩。

“是的，”他说。

我是来全取出的。

“你怎么解释呢?”我对准了那个职员。“为什么你以前让他取钱，现在却不让?”

他看上去很恼火。“因为出纳员以前不知道他的年龄，现在他们知道了。这真的很简单。”

【12】我耸耸肩，转向那个男孩。“你真的被骗了，”我说。“你应该让你的父母来这里抗议。”

这个男孩看起来很沮丧。他默默地把存折放在后面的口袋里，走出了银行。

职员转向我。“你知道，”他说，“你真的不应该干涉。”

【13】“不该干涉吗?”我叫道。“嗯，在我看来，他很需要有人代表他的利益。”

“有人在代表他的利益，”他轻声说。

“那是谁呢?”

“银行”。

【14】我简直不敢相信这个白痴说的话。“听着，”我总结道，“我们只是在浪费彼此的时间。但也许你愿意解释一下银行是如何代表那个男孩的利益的?”

【15】“当然，”他说。“我们今天早上被告知，一个多月来，有邻居欺负这个男孩。另一个人强迫他每周把钱取出来交出来，这个可怜的孩子显然太害怕了，不敢告诉任何人。这才是他如此沮丧的真正原因。他害怕另一个人会对他做什么。不管怎样，警察正在调查这个案子，他们今天可能会逮捕那个人。”

【16】“你的意思是说，从储蓄账户中取钱没有年龄太小的规定?”“我从来没有听说过。现在，先生，我们能为您做些什么?”