Page 125 - A Banker Down the Rabbit Hole

in and I offered him a seat. I asked him if he would mind if I asked him a
personal question not in the capacity of Branch Head. He agreed and I
asked him, "Whenever I tell you to send the documents the same day,
you send it the next day whereas in normal course you send all other
documents the same day. Was my way of saying so wrong that you do
not recognize my proper authority to tell you so as a Branch Head? " He
replied, "You have done the right thing to call me and discuss it in person."

"You had hurt me very much by saying wrong words about me to a staff
of your earlier branch when I had not ever met you in life." I asked him
to elaborate. He told me, "One of your staff wanted his transfer from
your branch to some home town branch and he met me here. On his
return, you remarked that he had met a wrong person. What wrong you
had found and heard about me?"

I then remembered the incident and told him the full episode, "My staff
requested me to guide how he can get transferred on compassionate
grounds to his home town where bank had a branch. I was convinced
with his reason of transfer and told him to meet a particular union leader
who was posted at this branch. My staff visited this branch but the union
leader was by chance on leave and my staff happened to meet you."

On return, he told me, "I had met Mr. Y (yourself) and requested him to
help him in his transfer." I told him, "The person you met was not the
right person. You should have met the Union leader." He later came to
meet the union leader again. When he met you also at the same branch,
he possibly distorted the communication to you like this, "My branch
Manager suggested that I should not have met you, a wrong person."

I told him, "I had never met you or heard about you anything wrong. This
was a case of unintended miscommunication by my young staff. You
should forget about this as I never ever meant so. I only meant you were
not the right person to handle his transfer case. "

122 | A Banker down the Rabbit Hole