@#$#$#$%^*&^%%!!!!!!!

I am really pissed off!! What a bad way to start the day.

I'm in the midst of applying for a housing loan. The Malaysian bank from which I made my loan application had asked me to furnish them with the past 3-months' account statement of the Indonesian bank into which my allowance is being credited.

So, this morning I went to the Indonesian bank (which shall be known as Bank LNM - Lembab Nak Mampos).

But before that, yesterday, I called their customer service to ask how I could get my bank statement printed. The lady on the other end of the line explained everything.

Okay. Everything seemed simple enough. It is always important to have a worst case scenario in your mind so that you would not get overly frustrated.

So, the worst case scenario I had was that I would be asked to come back the following day to collect my bank statement.

I had it done in KL before and I got the bank statement on the same day. This being Indonesia, I added another 24 hrs. Afterall, Bank LNM is one of the largest banks in Indonesia.

And so, this morning I did exactly what I was told. I went to the branch where I opened my account and brought along with me all the necsessary documents i.e my passbook, Indonesian I.D and Malaysian passport.

So there I was this morning, at the customer service counter, explaining to the CS lady the purpose of my visit.

I then produced all the documents required. The CS lady smiled.

CS lady : "Bapak keburu apa nggak?"

Hmmm... I gave a quick thought. If I say I wasn't in a hurry, she might ask me to wait for some time for the statement to be printed out. If I say yes, I really want the statement as soon as possible, maybe she would print it instantly.

Me : " Ya mbak. Saya agak keburu. Saya mau rekening korannya di print sekarang"

CS lady : "Maaf pak, kami nggak bisa print sekarang. Permohonan bapak harus kami kirim ke bank pusat dan bank pusat akan kirim kembali ke sini."

Me : "Terus, kapan bisa saya ambil?"

CS lady : "Lima hari pak"

Seriously, I swore I could feel blood rising to my head. If I were Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, this was the moment where my shirt would have started ripping and I would start turning green.

Me : "Aduuhh!!! Benda yang simple harus ngambil 5 hari??!! Saya stress mbak!! Stress!!! Stress!!". I said this with both my hands on my forehead.

I did a cerekarama/sinetron/soap opera at the customer service counter. I was over-dramatising my frustration. The CS lady manning the other counter was now staring at me.

Peduli apa aku!! Memang lahanat sangat bank ni!!!

I regained my composure.

Me : "Ok mbak. Hari ini Khamis. Jika 5 hari, maka hari Khamis minggu depan baru saya bisa dapat statement saya. Oleh karena ini Indonesia, saya pasti saya nggak bakalan dapat statement saya hari Khamis. Saya kasi sampei Jum'at. Saya mau mbak pastikan paling lambat saya terima statement saya hari Jum'at minggu depan. Jika saya terima statement saya lebih awal dari hari Khamis, itu satu keajaiban yang besar".

By now, the customer seated at next counter was looking at me. It was not my intention to insult anyone, but I've been here long enough to know how they work.

I left the bank feeling utterly frustrated. I just could not fathom how such a simple thing as printing a bank statement would require 5 bloody working days.

As I always say, that's Indonesia folks!!