An incident at the bank

I had to stop at the bank today to make a deposit and as I strode toward the counter I was delighted to see Wang Lee engaged in an animated conversation with Betty Plumb, the bank teller.

Wang Lee is an old Chinese friend of mine; a delightful character who has lived in town for nearly twenty years yet makes a minimal attempt to learn the language. He does speak English but just enough to get by and he has always maintained his thick Chinese accent.

Many an afternoon Wang and I have spent on the river bank with our fishing lines in the water, our beer and sandwiches arranged on a checkered cloth, and our conversation spirited and friendly. Wang has told me much about his country and especially the small village he comes from. If I remember correctly the name of the village is Chengar or something like that, but that isn't really important. The fact is Wang's village and its inhabitants are a lot like my little town and the characters in it and we have a rather enjoyable game where we compare villagers and try to come up with common denominators and one such person we have discussed is the previously mentioned Betty Plumb, the bank teller who Wang was yelling at when I strode up behind him.

The equivalent of Betty Plumb in Wang's Village is a woman named Chee Ton. Loud, obnoxious, xenophobic -- all the characteristics of Betty.

Anyway, as I strode up behind Wang I put a hand on his shoulder to offer a greeting and he turned angrily, brushed my hand off, and returned his gaze to Betty Plumb.

"Why it change!?" he yelled, "Yestaday I get two hunna dollah for yen. Today I get one hunna eighty. Why it change?

Betty looked at him and with her ever present sneer, replied, "Flucuations."

At that point Wang blew up. He took his cone-shaped straw hat off his head and threw it on the floor. Then, his face red and his eyes ablaze with fire, he screamed, "Fluc you white people too!!"

I started chuckling and being a bit more diplomatic and reasonable than Betty, I explained to Wang exactly what had transpired and a look of enlightenment crossed his face and the anger was washed away like tears in rain.

He smiled then and apologized to Betty for his outburst and shortly thereafter the three of us were sitting together in a booth of "Shirley's Diner" and the food was excellent and the conversation agreeable.