Chapter 4.4 – My Financial Career
The narrator’s salary has been increased to fifty dollars a month, and he wants to deposit the extra money in the bank. When he enters the bank, the sight of the clerks and the wickets makes him nervous. He does not understand what he is saying or doing. He makes a lot of errors when filling up the check, and the others in the bank do not seem to support or correct him. They simply stare at him in amazement. Not only the man himself is responsible for this failure, but the people in the bank are also factors that made him fail. In conclusion, the man failed because of the lack of care from the people in the bank and his shyness and pride. He would not have failed if he had been more insistent on getting his job done, ignoring his pride, or if the people in the bank had helped him warmly. This is a humorous story, but the writer wrote it based on the real-life experiences of so many people.
Warming up!
1. When you open a savings account at a bank you need to fill up Deposit forms/slips. Observe the following forms and fill up your details.
Ans: Students must do this on their own.
2. Write in your own words:-
(a) Why does the bank need so many details of its customers?
Ans: The bank has to be sure that the customer is not a fraud or a cheat. The money deposited or withdrawn should be legal. The government has to be notified about various things. Letters have to be sent to the customer’s home/office or some information given to him about the transactions in his account. For all these reasons, the bank needs many details of its customers.
(b) What problems do customers face when they have to make a cash deposit at a bank?
Ans: First of all, the customer has to go to the bank during banking hours, which may not be convenient. He then has to stand in a queue, fill in the details in the paying-in-slip, etc. There may be a long queue or the officials may be few or slow, leading to a long wait. These are some of the problems that customers face when they have to make a cash deposit at a bank.
(c) What are the latest modern methods of depositing money in your own or somebody else’s account?
Ans: The latest modern method is net banking, that is, operating your account through your email or cell phone to transfer or deposit money.
3. Make a word web of at least 12 words related to BANKING.
Ans:
In Between the Lesson!
Q1. What makes the narrator nervous at a bank?
Ans: The sight of the clerks, wickets, money and almost everything in the bank made the narrator nervous.
Q2. What word should he have avoided in his request to see the manager?
Ans: The writer should have avoided the word ‘alone’ in his request to see the manager.
Q3. Why was the manager alarmed?
Ans: The manager felt that the writer had some awful secret to reveal. Hence he was alarmed.
Q4. Who did he think was his visitor?
Ans: The manager thought his visitor was one of Pinkerton’s men.
Q5. What procedure did the author have to follow to open the account?
Ans: To open an account, the author had to first give the money to the accountant. He then had to write the sum on a slip and sign his name in a book.
Q6. What error did the author make in the cheque? Did he correct it?
Ans: The author wrote a cheque for fifty-six dollars instead of six dollars. This was the error. No, he did not correct itm
Q7. Why did the author pretend to appear like a bad-tempered man?
Ans: The officials at the bank were astonished with the writer’s behaviour. The writer was terribly nervous, and he thought that if he could look as if he had been insulted and was hence withdrawing his money, they might not laugh at him. Hence he pretended to appear like a bad-tempered man.
Q8. What decision has the author taken after the episode at the bank?
Ans: After the episode at the bank, the author has decided that he will not keep his money in a bank any more. He will keep his money in cash in his trouser pocket and his savings in silver dollars in a sock.
Q9. Is the author’s last decision wise?
Ans: No, the author’s last decision is not wise. It is risky to keep money in the trouser pocket or in the house; thieves may get it. Besides, if you keep it in a bank you will get interest on the money; at home the money will not increase.
ENGLISH WORKSHOP
1. Find from the lesson, the antonyms of the following.
(a) afterwards
Ans: beforehand
(b) spending
Ans: saving
(c) careful
Ans: irresponsible
(d) withdraw
Ans: deposit
(e) confidently
Ans: timidly
(f) cheerful
Ans: sepulchral
2. Fill in the blanks choosing the appropriate word/idiom from the lesson.
(a) The …… solved the mysterious crime.
Ans: The detective solved the mysterious crime.
(b) In the examination, I did not know the answer, so I ……
Ans: In the examination, I did not know the answer, so I wrote something.
(c) He was dizzy and he …… into the room.
Ans: He was dizzy and he shambled into the room.
(d) While arguing with his elders he had ……
Ans: While arguing with his elders he had a fearfully quick temper.
(e) The sight of a snake ……
Ans: The sight of a snake rattles me.
(f) As soon as I …… of my home, I greet my family.
Ans: As soon as I cross the threshold of my home, I greet my family.
3. Using the following points frame a character sketch of the narrator. Support each character trait with instances from the lesson.
(1) Diffident and timid
(2) Unusual behaviour
(3) Ignorant about banking
(4) Nervous and careless
(5) Economical
Ans: Character sketch of the author:
The author was a diffident and timid person. Everything about the bank made him nervous; in fact, he was so nervous that he did not even know what he was doing and what he was signing. He behaved in an unusual manner, shambling into the bank and talking in a gloomy voice as if he had a secret. It was also unnecessary for him to ask the manager whether he could talk to him alone. He was ignorant about banking, and too nervous to show his ignorance. He did not know how to open an account or write a cheque correctly. He was careless because of his nervousness and wrote the wrong figure on the cheque, which he did not attempt to correct. He was careful in spending his money, and saved enough to keep it in silver dollars in a sock at home.
4. Rewrite the following in indirect speech.
(a) “Can I see the manager?” I said, “Certainly” said the accountant.
Ans: I asked the accountant whether I could see the manager. The accountant replied that I could certainly do so.
(b) “Good morning,” I said and stepped into the safe.
“Come out,” said the manager coldly.
Ans: I wished the manager a good morning and stepped into the safe. He ordered me coldly to come out.
(c) ….. the words seemed to mean, “Let us do this painful thing while the fit is on us.”
Ans: … the words seem to mean that we should do that painful thing while the fit is on us.
(d) “What! Are you drawing it all out again?” he asked in surprise.
“Yes, the whole thing,” I said.
Ans: He asked me in surprise whether I was drawing it all out again. I replied in the affirmative and confirmed that I was drawing out the whole thing.
(e) “How will you have it?” he said.
“In fifties,” I said.
Ans: He asked me how I would have it. I replied that I would have it in fifties.
5. Read the statement, write your views first, and counterview later, in two separate passages. ‘Online/Net Banking is better than going personally to the bank for transactions.
Views:
Ans: Online/Net banking is certainly better than going personally to the bank for transactions. You do not have to wait for banking hours or worry about bank holidays. You do not have to stand in a queue or deal with bored officers. With net banking, the service is immediate – when you want it, and where you want it. You can operate your account from anywhere in the world. You will get all the information about your transactions at the click of a button. There is no wastage of any sort, and complete privacy to what you are doing. Yes, net banking is worth it, any day!
Counter views:
Ans: Net banking? Certainly not. If you do all your transactions through a cell phone or a computer, where is the personal touch that is so necessary in our lives? No doubt, you may get things instantly, but is this all there is to life? Besides, if you have a problem, can you discuss it with a computer or a phone? And if you think your accounts are secure and private, that is a myth. Any reasonably good hacker will be able to hack the account and siphon off all your money before you have any idea that it has happened. You have to be extremely cautious and knowledgeable about the ins and outs of net banking to do it successfully. How many people do we have in our country who are so proficient? No, give me normal, face-to-face, personalised banking any day.
6. Read the story ‘Lord Ermsworth and the Girl Friend’ by P. G. Wodehouse.
Ans: Students must do this on their own.