My trip to the bank...

So I was at the bank the other day and I asked the teller for my balance. He smiled at me and said, “Are you signed up for online banking? It’s free, and-”

I cut him off. “No, and I’m not interested, thanks.”

Like every used car salesman you’ve ever hated, he didn’t get the hint. “It only takes a minute of your time-”

Getting annoyed, I cut him off again, “Listen, I’m not buying what you’re selling. Can I just get my balance please?”

He blinked, then he tried again. (It wasn’t like he couldn’t tell I was annoyed, I just think the bulletproof glass separating him and I made him feel safe.) “I’m not trying to sell you anything, ma’am, just save you time and effort.”

I looked at him. (Okay, I glared at the moron.) He wasn’t getting it. “Listen, I’m here, in the bank, trying to make a deposit. You are here, in the bank, taking my deposit. In what way does it save me time and effort to drive or bus to the library, log in, look up my account, and check the balance? I’m already here. Does it hurt you to give me my balance?!?”

After my admittedly venomous reply, he got me my balance. But the whole thing got me thinking. At what point did our society decide that everyone had access to the internet at home? More to the point, at what point did it become acceptable behavior to assume that because a technology was available, a person should be making use of it? (Or would, if they were smart enough to know it existed.) Nearly every time I ask for my balance, I get a sales pitch. What is wrong with walking into a bank and expecting service from the people behind the counter? Since when was that a bad thing?