While in Western Australia, I got a job with two of the four big banks, and in one of them I was promoted to the marketing and advertising unit, specialising in insurance products for the domestic market. I was also responsible for managing customer accounts, a job the boss used to like off-loading on me because his long standing private secretary did not have the same strike rate with his customers that I did. I was the one they loved to deal with but I didn't want to be his shit-kicker so I told his private secretary that if she resigns I WILL TOO. I must admit though, the pay was pretty good, nearly 60 grand a year for all that overtime. I was awarded customer service champion of the month for 6 consecutive months, an achievement that baffled both the branch and district manager and caused envy among colleagues.
Three months into the job, still relatively new to the banking industry, I was stationed at the telling post to fill in for an absentee. Right after the boss went to lunch we were robbed by three very aggressive BANK robbers who busted in with carnival masks and held us up at gun point; we handed all the money over and they escaped in a car waiting for them around the corner. Our aim during the ordeal was not to let anyone get hurt, as lives are more important than money that we can easily replace through our insurance policy.
The boss returned from lunch to find the police and forensics swarming the area. The crime was said to be done by professionals; during which, one of the Bank robbers in particular gave me eye stares for pro-longed periods as if he didn't trust that I would comply... and I almost didn't not knowing if the guns they were carrying were actually loaded; but in the Banks we are not allowed to take those risks and must follow security procedures to comply with handing money over at gun point, prioritising the safety of staff and patrons. There was something in this man's eyes that told me on the immediate that he was a fraud, which gave me a sense of curiosity about the loaded guns – if they were actually loaded.
I didn't want to hand the money over not because I loved the money, I mean it wasn't even mine, but because I was certain he was a fraud and that the probability of the guns being empty was high; so him pointing the gun at me shouting for the money, failed to put the fear of Christ in me. In the spirit of compliance I calmly handed the money over while everyone else was shaking and afraid. Before they left I yelled out ‘we'll get ya later’. When the boss heard about this, he got pissed off with me and said, ‘CAN’T you just keep your mouth shut for just once in your life, weren't you scared?’... and I said ‘NO’.
He never forgot my reply... I guess I am not someone people can forget (I used to get told that alot).
LATER came and the police took their statements to file a report. Since I had the role of a lead teller on the day, have a photographic memory and pay attention to the intricate details of a person’s face, I was the first person appointed by the boss to pick the mug shots at the police station. During the Bank robbery I noticed a faint scar just above the eyebrow, on the face of one of the attackers that no one else seem to notice in the panic - I pointed to two of the three suspects from a list of 20. Then all twenty suspects were presented in person behind a one-way glass and I was once again asked to pick three. Well as soon as I looked into their eyes I successfully exposed all three, and that stare from the first person in line, was the same as the one on the face of the Bank robber who was facing my telling post during the Bank robbery – I never miss my target they told me... The police later discovered, during the interrogation process that all three guns used during the robbery were empty. The money was also recovered but not in full and all three men got off on bail, which was alarming and caused some of our tellers to resign at once.
It was a long time ago but still the turn of events are detailed in my memory quite clearly.
My accuracy came with a nice reward, a cheque of 2000 dollars...
This was after (and in an entirely different state), I blew the whistle on a police officer who raped a 14 year old Aboriginal Girl, and later (not immediately) lost his job.
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