On Jan 30, 2012, at 5:15 AM, ss wrote: > > Sounds like something out of Douglas Adams, or the Mahabharata. > > It turns out that a man in Kolkata or Bhopal (or was it Rajnandgaon?) went > to an ATM to withdraw the equivalent of US$ 100 and got an acknowledgement > slip telling him that his bank balance was several million Rupees more than > he > had deposited in the bank > > He did not take that lying down and complained to the bank that there were at > least 4 extra zeros in the figure quoted as his bank balance. > > I just wonder if there was some extra dimensional connection that made your > payment go into this man's account, and a karmic connection where he owed you > one from a prvious birth, so he was honest enough to say the money was not > his? > > Strange world. > > shiv > A few years ago I was in California on business. My wife was in the hospital in Massachusetts, two of my three (adult) children were very seriously ill, and I had a million other worries, personal and financial. It was in this context that I found one morning that my bank balance was zero and that I had been frozen out of the account. I called the bank to find out what on earth was wrong, since the balance should have been about $2,500. I turns out that the State of Massachusetts, in its wisdom, had decided that I owed $2500 in back income taxes, and without warning, put a levy on my account. By some miracle I was able to get the matter straightened out by telephone. (This really is miraculous; I had a similar problem with the IRS that went on for ten years and cost me $20,000 or so -- money I did not owe.) Anyway it turned out that I was due a *refund* of $2,500. Within a day they had restored my $2,500 and added $2,500 to it. But that was a very tense couple of days, for I was so worried about my wife's health that I did not dare to tell her we had no money, and had to deal with my worries alone. I'm still kind of astounded that I was able to get the matter resolved so quickly.
As to Bangalore, I meant no slight to the city or its people; indeed I would love to see Bangalore some day. I think that would be a delight. I do think it's funny that call center operators introduce themselves with American-sounding first names. On the other hand, when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal many years ago, I was given and used a Senegalese name. But I think it would be nice to hear real Indian names. Regards, jrs
