A Local Bank Branch
Friday. July 2, 1982
Afternoon
“Be back in a few minutes!” Shelley told Gary as she exited the van. She hurried into the bank, eager to deposit her paycheck; she’d been penniless since the car thieves had emptied her purse. But she found that she was going to have to wait a few minutes more, because there were several other customers before her in line to see the tellers. She shouldn’t be surprised, she supposed; payday fell on Friday for most people, which meant the banks were always busy on Fridays. At least it wasn’t as busy now as it would be later in the evening, after all the 9-to-5 workers finished their work day.
While she waited in line, she noticed a sign in the bank lobby advertising a discount on the first year’s fee for a safe deposit box rental. At first she ignored it, thinking she had no need of such a thing, as poor as she was. But as she waited in line, it seemed like some vague idea was trying to push its way to the surface of her thoughts, until a memory from a couple of weeks earlier emerged. And so, when it was finally her turn with the teller, Shelley handed over the check along with her deposit slip and then asked the teller about getting a safe deposit box. The teller cashed her check and directed her to one of the bank officers, a Mrs. Oliver, who was sitting at a desk off to the side of the teller counter.
When Shelley approached Mrs. Oliver and told her she was interested in getting a safe deposit box, Mrs. Oliver went over the sizes available and the annual cost for each. “I just need a small one; the 3x5 will do fine,” said Shelley, choosing the smallest and cheapest size available.
“Very well. That’ll be ten dollars for the first year’s rent, which is the discount rate, and then fifteen dollars for subsequent years,” said Mrs. Oliver. “You will receive a bill annually in the mail for that year’s rent. And of course the prices may be increased due to inflation at the bank’s discretion, in which case you will receive a notification of the price increase in the mail. Each safe deposit box has two locks; you’ll have the key to one, and the bank will retain the key to the other. Both keys are needed to open the box. Whenever you want to access the box, you’ll need to put your signature on an access list and have your key with you. We will provide you with two copies of your key, which you will need to return to us if you decide to surrender your box. Additional fees may apply if you lose the keys or do not return them when you surrender your box.” Mrs. Oliver retrieved a pair of keys and a triplicate form. Placing the form on the desk in front of Shelley, she said, “This form constitutes the legal agreement pertaining to the safe deposit box. Please fill out the requested information at the top, initial here to acknowledge receipt of the keys…” – she pointed to a place on the form for the initials – “and then sign at the bottom to accept the terms of the agreement. Then you’ll keep one copy of the agreement, and the bank will keep the other two.”
Shelley looked over the form. She briefly perused the legalese; she thought she understood most of it, or at least got the gist of it, and didn’t notice any red flags. So she went ahead and filled out her name, address, and phone number at the top, put her initials where Mrs. Oliver had indicated, and finished by putting her signature at the bottom. After Shelley turned over the $10 annual fee, Mrs. Oliver tore off Shelley’s copy of the agreement and handed it to her along with the set of keys. “Do you want to access the box now?” she asked.
“Uh, yes, but I need to run out to my car first. I’ll be back in a minute,” Shelley replied.
Shelley hurried out to Gary’s van and climbed into the passenger seat, but instead of closing the door she opened the glove compartment and said, “Not quite done yet; sorry this is taking a little longer than I expected. I decided to take advantage of the bank’s safe deposit box offer.” Reaching into the glove compartment she withdrew a film canister, one that she had put there two weeks ago when she and Gary had gone to Teal Cove’s Summer Fest and had pretty much forgotten until now.
*optional tag Gary*
Closing the glove compartment, Shelley said, “Should just be a few minutes more; I’ll be right back,” and then hurried back into the bank. Mrs. Oliver was waiting for her, and escorted her into the vault area where the safe deposit boxes were located. She had Shelley sign an access list, and then used her key and Shelley’s key to open the box. She asked Shelley if she wanted a private room while accessing the box, but Shelley declined and just put the film canister into the box, which Mrs. Oliver then closed and locked. She returned Shelley’s keys to her and wished her a good day, and Shelley returned to Gary’s van. “All done,” she declared. “Oh, wait…” She reached into her purse and withdrew a $20 bill, and offered it to Gary. “Here’s a contribution towards the rent. I owe you a lot more, but at least this is a start.”
*optional tag Gary*
Friday. July 2, 1982
Afternoon
“Be back in a few minutes!” Shelley told Gary as she exited the van. She hurried into the bank, eager to deposit her paycheck; she’d been penniless since the car thieves had emptied her purse. But she found that she was going to have to wait a few minutes more, because there were several other customers before her in line to see the tellers. She shouldn’t be surprised, she supposed; payday fell on Friday for most people, which meant the banks were always busy on Fridays. At least it wasn’t as busy now as it would be later in the evening, after all the 9-to-5 workers finished their work day.
While she waited in line, she noticed a sign in the bank lobby advertising a discount on the first year’s fee for a safe deposit box rental. At first she ignored it, thinking she had no need of such a thing, as poor as she was. But as she waited in line, it seemed like some vague idea was trying to push its way to the surface of her thoughts, until a memory from a couple of weeks earlier emerged. And so, when it was finally her turn with the teller, Shelley handed over the check along with her deposit slip and then asked the teller about getting a safe deposit box. The teller cashed her check and directed her to one of the bank officers, a Mrs. Oliver, who was sitting at a desk off to the side of the teller counter.
When Shelley approached Mrs. Oliver and told her she was interested in getting a safe deposit box, Mrs. Oliver went over the sizes available and the annual cost for each. “I just need a small one; the 3x5 will do fine,” said Shelley, choosing the smallest and cheapest size available.
“Very well. That’ll be ten dollars for the first year’s rent, which is the discount rate, and then fifteen dollars for subsequent years,” said Mrs. Oliver. “You will receive a bill annually in the mail for that year’s rent. And of course the prices may be increased due to inflation at the bank’s discretion, in which case you will receive a notification of the price increase in the mail. Each safe deposit box has two locks; you’ll have the key to one, and the bank will retain the key to the other. Both keys are needed to open the box. Whenever you want to access the box, you’ll need to put your signature on an access list and have your key with you. We will provide you with two copies of your key, which you will need to return to us if you decide to surrender your box. Additional fees may apply if you lose the keys or do not return them when you surrender your box.” Mrs. Oliver retrieved a pair of keys and a triplicate form. Placing the form on the desk in front of Shelley, she said, “This form constitutes the legal agreement pertaining to the safe deposit box. Please fill out the requested information at the top, initial here to acknowledge receipt of the keys…” – she pointed to a place on the form for the initials – “and then sign at the bottom to accept the terms of the agreement. Then you’ll keep one copy of the agreement, and the bank will keep the other two.”
Shelley looked over the form. She briefly perused the legalese; she thought she understood most of it, or at least got the gist of it, and didn’t notice any red flags. So she went ahead and filled out her name, address, and phone number at the top, put her initials where Mrs. Oliver had indicated, and finished by putting her signature at the bottom. After Shelley turned over the $10 annual fee, Mrs. Oliver tore off Shelley’s copy of the agreement and handed it to her along with the set of keys. “Do you want to access the box now?” she asked.
“Uh, yes, but I need to run out to my car first. I’ll be back in a minute,” Shelley replied.
Shelley hurried out to Gary’s van and climbed into the passenger seat, but instead of closing the door she opened the glove compartment and said, “Not quite done yet; sorry this is taking a little longer than I expected. I decided to take advantage of the bank’s safe deposit box offer.” Reaching into the glove compartment she withdrew a film canister, one that she had put there two weeks ago when she and Gary had gone to Teal Cove’s Summer Fest and had pretty much forgotten until now.
*optional tag Gary*
Closing the glove compartment, Shelley said, “Should just be a few minutes more; I’ll be right back,” and then hurried back into the bank. Mrs. Oliver was waiting for her, and escorted her into the vault area where the safe deposit boxes were located. She had Shelley sign an access list, and then used her key and Shelley’s key to open the box. She asked Shelley if she wanted a private room while accessing the box, but Shelley declined and just put the film canister into the box, which Mrs. Oliver then closed and locked. She returned Shelley’s keys to her and wished her a good day, and Shelley returned to Gary’s van. “All done,” she declared. “Oh, wait…” She reached into her purse and withdrew a $20 bill, and offered it to Gary. “Here’s a contribution towards the rent. I owe you a lot more, but at least this is a start.”
*optional tag Gary*
Gary decided to play around with his scanner while Shelley went inside. He picked up some chatter from some nearby city workers. After listening for a few minutes, it sounded like they were with public works and were doing a street repair somewhere nearby. Apparently there were questions about the location of some buried cable in the vicinity. The person on the other end was calling the phone company to come out to locate the wiring in question.
Shelley hurried out to Gary’s van and climbed into the passenger seat, but instead of closing the door she opened the glove compartment.
"That was quick," Gary replied.
“Not quite done yet; sorry this is taking a little longer than I expected. I decided to take advantage of the bank’s safe deposit box offer.” Reaching into the glove compartment she withdrew a film canister, one that she had put there two weeks ago when she and Gary had gone to Teal Cove’s Summer Fest and had pretty much forgotten until now. Closing the glove compartment, Shelley said, “Should just be a few minutes more; I’ll be right back."
"Oh uh...," Gary stated to say, but Shelley had already gone back into the bank. By that point, it seemed the conversation on the radio between the city employees had wrapped up and the band went silent. Gary began tuning around some more to see what else he could find.
Several minutes later, Shelley returned to Gary’s van. “All done,” she declared. “Oh, wait…” She reached into her purse and withdrew a $20 bill, and offered it to Gary. “Here’s a contribution towards the rent. I owe you a lot more, but at least this is a start.”
"OH, uh, why don't you hold onto that for now..."
Shelley hurried out to Gary’s van and climbed into the passenger seat, but instead of closing the door she opened the glove compartment.
"That was quick," Gary replied.
“Not quite done yet; sorry this is taking a little longer than I expected. I decided to take advantage of the bank’s safe deposit box offer.” Reaching into the glove compartment she withdrew a film canister, one that she had put there two weeks ago when she and Gary had gone to Teal Cove’s Summer Fest and had pretty much forgotten until now. Closing the glove compartment, Shelley said, “Should just be a few minutes more; I’ll be right back."
"Oh uh...," Gary stated to say, but Shelley had already gone back into the bank. By that point, it seemed the conversation on the radio between the city employees had wrapped up and the band went silent. Gary began tuning around some more to see what else he could find.
Several minutes later, Shelley returned to Gary’s van. “All done,” she declared. “Oh, wait…” She reached into her purse and withdrew a $20 bill, and offered it to Gary. “Here’s a contribution towards the rent. I owe you a lot more, but at least this is a start.”
"OH, uh, why don't you hold onto that for now..."
Several minutes later, Shelley returned to Gary’s van. “All done,” she declared. “Oh, wait…” She reached into her purse and withdrew a $20 bill, and offered it to Gary. “Here’s a contribution towards the rent. I owe you a lot more, but at least this is a start.”
"OH, uh, why don't you hold onto that for now..."
“You sure? Okay, thanks! I need to start paying some rent sooner or later, though. Hopefully I’ll be back on my feet pretty soon, and can start paying my part.” She gave Gary I warm smile. “I really appreciate all you’ve done for me. I don’t know where I’d be now without you.”
*optional tag Gary*
When they arrived back at the house a few minutes later, they noticed a box wrapped in brown shipping paper sitting by the front door. “Did you order something? It looks like you got a package,” Shelley said. It didn’t occur to her that the package might be for her; she assumed the other car key and any money her mother might have sent her would just be in an envelope in the mailbox.
*optional tag Gary*
When they got a closer look at the package, they saw that it was addressed to “Cathy Higgins”. “Oh, it’s for me!” said Shelley, a bit surprised. She knew it must be the package from her mother; clearly there was more in it than just her keys and some money. It occurred to her that maybe she should have told her mom to address the package to “Shelley Higgins” rather than “Cathy Higgins”, but she supposed it didn’t really matter; she had received it, and that’s what was important.
She picked up the box and carried it inside. It wasn’t very heavy, and clearly didn’t contain the electric fan that was pictured on the box once they got the shipping paper off of it. Upon opening the box, Shelley found an envelope on top of rest of the contents of the box, in which she found the extra key to the Firebird and several bills totaling $57. “Maybe you should go ahead and take that twenty I offered you earlier after all,” she said with a smile.
*optional tag Gary*
The next things in the box under the envelope were several items of underwear. Shelley blushed, being a little embarrassed for Gary to see them, and quickly pushed them aside to reveal a couple of pairs of shoes that she recognized as her old running shoes and the dress shoes she had worn to her high school graduation ceremony. She lifted the shoes out of the box long enough to see several more items of clothing beneath them, and then returned the shoes to the box and closed it. “Well, looks like my mom sent some of my old clothes that I didn’t get a chance to pack when I left Pittsburgh,” she said. “That’ll come in handy. I won’t have to wear the same couple of outfits day after day.”
*optional tag Gary*
"OH, uh, why don't you hold onto that for now..."
“You sure? Okay, thanks! I need to start paying some rent sooner or later, though. Hopefully I’ll be back on my feet pretty soon, and can start paying my part.” She gave Gary I warm smile. “I really appreciate all you’ve done for me. I don’t know where I’d be now without you.”
*optional tag Gary*
When they arrived back at the house a few minutes later, they noticed a box wrapped in brown shipping paper sitting by the front door. “Did you order something? It looks like you got a package,” Shelley said. It didn’t occur to her that the package might be for her; she assumed the other car key and any money her mother might have sent her would just be in an envelope in the mailbox.
*optional tag Gary*
When they got a closer look at the package, they saw that it was addressed to “Cathy Higgins”. “Oh, it’s for me!” said Shelley, a bit surprised. She knew it must be the package from her mother; clearly there was more in it than just her keys and some money. It occurred to her that maybe she should have told her mom to address the package to “Shelley Higgins” rather than “Cathy Higgins”, but she supposed it didn’t really matter; she had received it, and that’s what was important.
She picked up the box and carried it inside. It wasn’t very heavy, and clearly didn’t contain the electric fan that was pictured on the box once they got the shipping paper off of it. Upon opening the box, Shelley found an envelope on top of rest of the contents of the box, in which she found the extra key to the Firebird and several bills totaling $57. “Maybe you should go ahead and take that twenty I offered you earlier after all,” she said with a smile.
*optional tag Gary*
The next things in the box under the envelope were several items of underwear. Shelley blushed, being a little embarrassed for Gary to see them, and quickly pushed them aside to reveal a couple of pairs of shoes that she recognized as her old running shoes and the dress shoes she had worn to her high school graduation ceremony. She lifted the shoes out of the box long enough to see several more items of clothing beneath them, and then returned the shoes to the box and closed it. “Well, looks like my mom sent some of my old clothes that I didn’t get a chance to pack when I left Pittsburgh,” she said. “That’ll come in handy. I won’t have to wear the same couple of outfits day after day.”
*optional tag Gary*
When they arrived back at the house a few minutes later, they noticed a box wrapped in brown shipping paper sitting by the front door. “Did you order something? It looks like you got a package,” Shelley said. It didn’t occur to her that the package might be for her; she assumed the other car key and any money her mother might have sent her would just be in an envelope in the mailbox.
Gary shrugged. He was always ordering things from catalogs particularly RadioShack and other mail-order electronics places. He was bad to do that and totally forget until the box showed up since many items took 6-8 weeks to arrive.
When they got a closer look at the package, they saw that it was addressed to “Cathy Higgins”. “Oh, it’s for me!” said Shelley, a bit surprised. She knew it must be the package from her mother; clearly there was more in it than just her keys and some money. It occurred to her that maybe she should have told her mom to address the package to “Shelley Higgins” rather than “Cathy Higgins”, but she supposed it didn’t really matter; she had received it, and that’s what was important.
She picked up the box and carried it inside. It wasn’t very heavy, and clearly didn’t contain the electric fan that was pictured on the box once they got the shipping paper off of it. Upon opening the box, Shelley found an envelope on top of rest of the contents of the box, in which she found the extra key to the Firebird and several bills totaling $57. “Maybe you should go ahead and take that twenty I offered you earlier after all,” she said with a smile.
"Only if it isn't going to be a burden to you," he answered. Her mother must have sent her a check or some cash, but Gary didn't inquire since it wasn't his business.
The next things in the box under the envelope were several items of underwear. Shelley blushed, being a little embarrassed for Gary to see them, and quickly pushed them aside to reveal a couple of pairs of shoes that she recognized as her old running shoes and the dress shoes she had worn to her high school graduation ceremony. She lifted the shoes out of the box long enough to see several more items of clothing beneath them, and then returned the shoes to the box and closed it. “Well, looks like my mom sent some of my old clothes that I didn’t get a chance to pack when I left Pittsburgh,” she said. “That’ll come in handy. I won’t have to wear the same couple of outfits day after day.”
Gary was trying not to be nosey and distracted himself by digging through a drawer in the kitchen looking for nothing in particular. "That's good," he replied. "Sounds like she shipped some of your stuff along with the car keys. Hopefully, things will be back to normal."
He grabbed a Tab from the fridge, cracked it open and flipped on the TV for a bit. He'd need to run by the restaurant in a little while and check on things. If Shelley had her keys back, she would be able to use her own car again and not need him for a ride.
Gary shrugged. He was always ordering things from catalogs particularly RadioShack and other mail-order electronics places. He was bad to do that and totally forget until the box showed up since many items took 6-8 weeks to arrive.
When they got a closer look at the package, they saw that it was addressed to “Cathy Higgins”. “Oh, it’s for me!” said Shelley, a bit surprised. She knew it must be the package from her mother; clearly there was more in it than just her keys and some money. It occurred to her that maybe she should have told her mom to address the package to “Shelley Higgins” rather than “Cathy Higgins”, but she supposed it didn’t really matter; she had received it, and that’s what was important.
She picked up the box and carried it inside. It wasn’t very heavy, and clearly didn’t contain the electric fan that was pictured on the box once they got the shipping paper off of it. Upon opening the box, Shelley found an envelope on top of rest of the contents of the box, in which she found the extra key to the Firebird and several bills totaling $57. “Maybe you should go ahead and take that twenty I offered you earlier after all,” she said with a smile.
"Only if it isn't going to be a burden to you," he answered. Her mother must have sent her a check or some cash, but Gary didn't inquire since it wasn't his business.
The next things in the box under the envelope were several items of underwear. Shelley blushed, being a little embarrassed for Gary to see them, and quickly pushed them aside to reveal a couple of pairs of shoes that she recognized as her old running shoes and the dress shoes she had worn to her high school graduation ceremony. She lifted the shoes out of the box long enough to see several more items of clothing beneath them, and then returned the shoes to the box and closed it. “Well, looks like my mom sent some of my old clothes that I didn’t get a chance to pack when I left Pittsburgh,” she said. “That’ll come in handy. I won’t have to wear the same couple of outfits day after day.”
Gary was trying not to be nosey and distracted himself by digging through a drawer in the kitchen looking for nothing in particular. "That's good," he replied. "Sounds like she shipped some of your stuff along with the car keys. Hopefully, things will be back to normal."
He grabbed a Tab from the fridge, cracked it open and flipped on the TV for a bit. He'd need to run by the restaurant in a little while and check on things. If Shelley had her keys back, she would be able to use her own car again and not need him for a ride.
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