Page 41 - Gilbert & Me_Neat

Day Six

Tuesday, April 14 , 2020
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6.30am:
Got up, shaved, showered etc, in full expectation of being able to get internet installed and
reconnect with the world, since today is the first regular day after a very long, uneventful
weekend.

First - Coffee.

Excited. Then a second cup. Very excited now.

Went to see Frank, got the truck and went straight to the bank. There’s a big queue to get in, but
nobody going into the ATM. Now, this is puzzling. But then I remembered that far too many
Belizeans do not use ATM machines. On the one hand, I can understand this: most often, of the
two machines hidden at the Freetown Road branch of Atlantic Bank, only one is ever working.
So when a queue develops, it takes forever to get to use a machine and, believe me, when you’re
forced to stand outside in an unrelenting Sun, that’s not a nice experience. On the other hand,
there’s a mistrust of modern banking – people still prefer to stand in line and wait to speak with a
human to withdraw cash via a personal check. I think it’s the fact that you’re INSIDE rather than
being OUTSIDE, that’s mostly why people don’t use the ATM.

Anyhow, I punch in the relevant numbers, but, no money. Now I’m confused and feeling
desperate – what’s going on?

Drove to the office and sent a second email to the Boss. Advised him that, since I have internet
and no phone, and no money, if he wants’ to communicate with me from now on, he’s going to
have to do that via his Sister, Sue or Frank, her husband. I’m not going to risk driving to the
office again. I grab an internet cable, in the vain hope that I can get internet set up (though seems
highly unlikely), close up the office, exchange some sarcastic words with the lone security guard
as I drive out the compound and head home.

Back at Sue and Frank’s place I decide to give Frank the key for the truck. I explain that I’m not
going to be using the truck again, for the foreseeable future, but since it’s parked behind his
truck, he should hold the key so he can move it whenever. He takes the key. I also explain that I
don’t have a phone or internet, so he couldn’t contact me, like he sometimes did, in order for me
to move the truck. He says he might have a spare old phone, and he’d be happy giving that to
me, I thank him for his kindness, and head home.