銀行：Convenient Banks

Money, money, money...can't live without it. There are times that I wish we could go back to the old days and just live off the land (I would love to just go spearfishing all day), but unfortunately we gotta deal with this issue of money.

Well, Japan has some of the most convenient banks I have ever seen! Come take a visual tour with me: you walk into the bank and immediately you are greeted by practically everyone smiling, bowing (well a small head nod), and saying, "irasshaimase/いらっしゃいませ/welcome!"

Then you walk over to this robot below:

domo arigatou mr. roboto

You say hello to the robot, you press a few buttons, and then bam! Suddenly the robot shines your shoes, combs your hair, gives you a massage, and then puts $100 into your pockets...ok not really. It's not really a robot, but you do press a button. After you press it, out comes a strip of paper with your number. Then you simply sit in an empty chair and enjoy your life.

Why do I blog about this? Well, in America, you walk in the door, go through a crazy maze of a line, and then, after standing in line for who knows how long, you end up talking to a grumpy old lady about some money issues. Yeah, sitting down is a hundred times better than that. 

It's not that the chairs are spectacular in any way, it's just that you get to sit down, end of discussion. Entertainment-wise, there are a couple of televisions showing what-the-heck-who-knows-what-they-are commercials, but, hey better than elevator music.

The rest of the story is quite uneventful; the bank teller calls your number, you do your business, and then you walk out. Simply put, my first time in a Japanese bank was amazing. I wish all banks had crazy robot-machines and let you sit down. Well, I wonder how long it will take America to catch on.

*On a side note, the bank also had this cool set-up on one of their tables. If you look closely you will see three reading glasses and three stickers: blue, yellow, and red. The stickers and their respective kanji (characters) basically describe the strength of the glasses.

super convenient, if I say so myself

Here's what they mean:

Blue = 弱 = Weak

Yellow = 中 = Middle

Red = 強 = Strong

I know this is not really life-changing, but I do think that this is extremely convenient. As the years go by, my eyesight gets less and less effective and my glasses get more and more heavier, so I'm really happy to see that the banks care for us people with bad eyesight.

Well, hope you learned something today, and America I hope you drop the whole maze system and let us sit down when we go to the bank! Until next time, またね～