Why are things so hard?

Every time I think I have things figured out, something else happens. I can handle that — most of the time — but these days I get more frustrated than perhaps I should.

The most recent event has been building for the past few weeks. Just like in the US, the bank here sends you a replacement for your bank card before it expires. When I got mine, I did what I thought I was supposed to do… I went to the bank and checked my bank balance at the ATM. This is, supposedly, how you activate the card. I even used it once, again at a bank, to withdraw some cash. It worked fine. Then I tried to use it at a restaurant and it didn’t work. Unconcerned, I made a supposition that, perhaps, it was because my old card was still active, so I continued to use the original up to the expiration date.

Ok. Done. Until this week when it actually mattered.

Yesterday, at a doctor’s office, I tried to use the new one to pay. Oops. No ood-gay, as they say in ig-pay, atin-lay. So, this morning I went to the bank.

Remember, if you will, that banking here is different. Here, you walk in and tell someone at the door what your problem is, and they give you a ticket with a number. (Hello, old-DMV!) The number is coded to get you in front of the right type of banker. Once you have your ticket, you take a seat, if there is one, and you wait.

One-Mississippi, two-Mississippi, etc., and so on, and sometimes up to an hour.

I was lucky this morning. I went before 9 a.m. and got right in, pretty much, within 10 minutes. Fortunately, the banker spoke some English and, between my Spanish and her English we seemed to get things done. “Go to the ATM and, with the new card, check your balance,” she instructed. So I did. It worked just fine, just like it did in the past.

“Is that it?,” I asked.

“Yes,” she replied.

And so, I proceeded on from the bank (total time elapsed 30 minutes) to the grocery store, which just happens to be in the same shopping center. And, you guessed it, when I went to pay with my shiny new card that worked just fine in the bank ATM, it DIDN’T WORK! The first attempt said something about the PIN being blocked. Then, on the second and third try, it just said “DECLINED.” Luckily, I had other options, although they tend to cost me more as they are US options in US dollars, meaning exchange rates and foreign transaction fees. Yet, unwilling as I was to leave my groceries at the checkout, I paid with one and, frustrated beyond measure, loaded up my car and headed back to the bank.

Now, however, the waiting area is full and even more people are in line. I explained what happened to the woman giving out the numbers. She told me (again), to use it in the ATM and check the balance, which I did. She then told me that, if the PIN number is blocked, there is nothing they can do at the bank and I will have to call on the phone.

Let me back up just a little.

Remember that I had met earlier with the banker who helped me with this issue. Well, at the same time, she helped me also get a replacement for my credit card. That process involved calling the bank on the phone (yes, from the bank). I explained to her that my Spanish wasn’t good enough to get through the all the options — you know, dial 1 for this and 2 for that — so she agreed to help me.

First, though, she had to set up a special, secret 8-numerical digit passcode that I could use when I call the bank. Then she made the call. Of course, I had to do the talking since it is my account, but she was there to help get me through the option tree and then translate and prompt me what to say and do next. I got through it successfully, but it was only because she was there helping me.

The gist here is that calling is complicated, especially for us non-native speakers. There are many options given in Spanish and they are spoken rapidly. Unlike in the US, there is no “press 9 for English.” For that reason, I have avoided as much as possible calling anyone here. WhatsApp texting is my best friend when it comes to getting anything done.

Fortunately, my neighbor speaks English well enough to help me through some of these things. Interestingly, she had a similar issue recently when she got her new card. The problem for her, however, was different. The instructions that came with her card required her to change her PIN code. She thought maybe I needed to do the same. We actually compared our inserts and, imagine my surprise to find out that mine had different instructions. Nevertheless, I went online and changed the PIN. I don’t think it will be the answer to the problem, but we will test it later by going to the store and trying to use the card again.

If it doesn’t work, I will go back to the bank tomorrow. And wait…