Today was fairly restful. Lal and elder sister returned to Nugegoda. They left about 10:00 am.
As soon as the tuk tuk and driver returned, Jay and I went to Minuwangoda to cash a few traveller’s cheques. It is a habit that is diminishing in importance. In our past, it was imperative to rely on Thomas Cook or American Express when travelling overseas. In Sri Lanka, for some reason, the rates on traveller’s cheques are even a bit better than cash. Yet, I must try an ATM to make a withdrawal directly from my account in Canada. All the banks’ automated tellers show they are tied to the standard, global networks. All large businesses accept credit cards now too. If we find these methods work well, then perhaps we’ll have to say goodbye to the time-tested tradition of practicing one’s signature over and over.
There is a new Sampath Bank branch in Minuwangoda. We stopped there. The environment was very nice. Clean, colourful walls and air conditioning welcomed us. Computerization has made banking in Sri Lanka easier in the last few decades. Still, there is a clear, class system to the way employees are organized. Bank staff still shuffle paperwork to a superior in order to get a signature and authorization even for the simplest tasks. This was never surprising to me as even wealthy Middle East banks implemented hierarchical systems that seemed archaic. The rub was several people repeatedly miscounted Jay’s $200 as $150. There were two fifties and a single one hundred but they assumed all were fifties. Jay figured that he’d made an error back at home. Without reading glasses, he is a bit blind! When our tuk tuk pulled up to the driveway at home, we discovered the bank had called and found the error. Jay had to turn around and return for the additional 5,000 Sri Lankan Rupees owed him.
Sometimes on a journey it’s the little things don’t go smoothly that are most remembered. I’d like to suggest, therefore, we should look forward to them in anticipation.