Protocol

It was just another day at the bank.  Jasmine Thompson had been working at First National bank for the last five years.  She loved her job as a teller because she was able to interact with people and help them solve problems but it wasn’t overly complicated.  After serving her country for ten years in the United States Navy, it was exactly the kind of job she was looking for to supplement her military disability pay.  One of the benefits of working at First National was she also had the privilege of working with her best friend Casey Black.  Casey was an account Manager at the bank and was responsible for convincing Jasmine to come work with her.  They had served together for the majority of their service time and formed a very strong bond that had been impenetrable by outside forces or people.

“Good Morning, Jasmine,” Casey said tiredly as she walked by her friend looking like she had a pretty rough morning.

“Dang, girl. You look like you spent a couple rounds in the ring with Mike Tyson in his prime,” Jasmine said with a smile.

“Your dang niece woke up in the middle of the night with a fever and all she wanted was cuddles from mommy.  She ended up sleeping in our bed moving around constantly emitting heat like a July day in Florida.  She must’ve kicked me seven times, so I have about a good four hours of sleep,” she said looking at her friend with bloodshot eyes.

“Aww, my poor Mia. How is she doing,” Jasmine asked concerned.

“She’s better, her fever broke this morning and she’s back to her regular sassy self,” Casey said with a smile, glad her daughter was feeling better when she dropped her off at daycare.

“I bet Shane slept through the entire thing,” Jasmine laughed, knowing Shane slept like the dead even when they were in the Navy.

“He did and then he was all paranoid because his little angel was sick and he’d missed it,” Casey said, shaking her head thinking about her husband freaking out when she’d explained why Mia was in the bed when he woke up.  

“You know how super protective he is of your little mini me,” Jasmine said smiling.

“Well I better get ready for my first client meeting.  Have fun out here and keep them coming back,” Casey said as she headed towards her glass office facing off to the side of the tellers.

Jasmine assisted many customers as the morning went on including several regulars who she enjoyed interacting with on a regular basis.

“Mr. Allen,” Jasmine said with a big smile as she greeted one of her favorite customers.

“Jasmine, good morning young lady.  I need to withdraw $100 from my account,” the elderly man said proudly.

“You’re getting your wife some new flowers today I bet,” Jasmine said while performing the requested transaction quickly.

“Just because she’s with the good Lord that doesn’t mean I get to stop wooing her,” Anthony Allen said with a beaming smile.

“So since you’re single when are you going to take me out,” Jasmine said with a wink, knowing she was going to get Mr. Allen’s never changing response.

“Young lady, I am a married man.  Just because Beatrice isn’t with us, she’s still my wife and I would never cheat on her,” he said, pretending to be offended.

Jasmine handed Mr. Allen his money and reached in her desk to hand him a card. When he read the card, his eyes welled up with tears.

“Get her one from us here at the bank too,” Jasmine said as she reached across the desk and patted his hand comforting him.

“This is a hundred gift card to the florist I buy her flowers from,” Anthony said in awe.

“Yes we all admire your dedication to your wife and we want you to know you’re not alone in celebrating her,” Jasmine said, smiling encouragingly.

“Thank you young lady.  This means so much.  If you play your cards right, I might just take you to lunch one day.  It won’t be a date though, just as friends,” Anthony said smiling again, moved by Jasmine's act of kindness.

“I would be honored.  You have a great day Mr. Allen.  I look forward to seeing you next month,” she said waving as he walked towards the door.

When she pushed the button near her desk, the light above her head came on letting the next customer know she was ready for them.

A young man approached her desk with a skull cap low on his forehead and tinted glasses on.  She doesn’t remember seeing him there before today.  He reached in his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper and slid it under the glass to Jasmine.

Jasmine read the paper and looked up at the man reading his body language.

“I’m sorry sir but for a withdrawal this large according to bank protocol you will have to deal with one of our account managers,” Jasmine said calmly.  The young man looked confused but he nodded his head slowly.  Jasmine stood and looked into Casey’s office just as Casey was escorting a client toward the door.

“Jasmine, will you please assist this young man with his request? You need to follow the large withdrawal protocol, Jasmine said with a pointed look at Casey.

Casey smiled with a barely perceptible nod at her friend and motioned for the young man to enter her office and take a seat.

“How much money would you like to withdraw,” Casey asked the young man calmly?

“Ten thousand dollars,” the young man says in a questioning tone.

“I can do that but the bank protocol requires I get the bank manager to sign off on a withdrawal that large. Sit tight for just a minute and I will go get him to sign the necessary form.  Before the young man could reply, Casey had grabbed a document off her desk and headed to the bank manager’s office across the lobby but clearly visible to her office.  

“Good Morning Daniel,” she said, causing the bank manager’s head to snap up and stare at her oddly.

“Everything ok,” he asked, watching her closely.

“Yes, sign this document per the large withdrawal protocol,” she says calmly.

Daniel Price takes the form and signs it quickly.

“Follow the rest of the protocol and Jasmine and I will take it from here,” Casey says as she takes the form and heads back to her office giving Jasmine a quick look.

When she entered her office the young man looked upset.

“I need you to get my money now, I have to go,” he said angrily.

“I understand sir but unfortunately the vault was just opened and according to protocol it can’t be reopened for another seven minutes,” she said apologetically.

“I can’t stay here that long,” he said loudly.

“Calm down please sir. I’m trying to help you but if I break protocol then it will trigger an alarm which will result in law enforcement visiting the bank.  We don’t want to freak everyone out now do we,” she asked, watching the young man closely.  He shook his head slightly.

“Well we have five more minutes left so we could talk to fill the time.  I’ll start.  I am married and have a four year old daughter named Mia,” Jasmine said, watching as a look crossed over the young man’s face as she mentioned her daughter.

“Children are great and I’m grateful for my daughter but these days with inflation and the prices of everything going up, it’s so hard to take care of them,” she said as the young man reflexively nodded in agreement.  “Sometimes we panic when we can provide for them as necessary and make terrible decisions that could cause us to ruin our entire life,” she said, staring calmly into the young man’s eyes.

Just then Jasmine appeared in the door with a duffle bag.  “The vault time lock finished its cycle, I reopened it and have the withdrawal right here,” she said, setting the bag on the floor next to where the young man was sitting.

“ I think he changed his mind about the withdrawal and wants to head home to his family,” Casey encouraged, looking at the man with pleading eyes.

The young man stood and looked at the bag for a minute before making eye contact again with Casey and Jasmine and then he hurriedly walked out of the office and straight out the door leaving the bag.  

Shortly after he left the young man was escorted back in with handcuffs by two local police officers.

“We were informed that a man fitting his description attempted to rob the bank,” one of the officers said, pointing to the young man in handcuffs.  

“No, he wanted to make a withdrawal but when we explained the protocol he decided now wasn’t a good time,” Casey said calmly.  The two cops looked at her confused but soon after uncuffed the young man and let him go.

Later in Danny’s office the two ladies were drinking coffee as Daniel looked at them admiringly.

“I thought you were crazy when you came up with the bank robbery protocol but you were right, it prevents people from getting hurt and more often than not deters the robbery all together,” Danny said appreciatively.

“Staying calm is the key and taking control of the situation is paramount.  We learned how to disarm a dangerous situation in the military,” Jasmine said proudly.

“Well Jasmine, it’s time for lunch.  I think we earned a fancy meal and extended lunch break today,” the ladies laughed as they left Danny’s office and headed to their favorite burger place for lunch.