Yesterday I visited the local branch of my bank to do a little in-person banking and found myself unable to proceed beyond the vestibule because the inner door was locked. I could see people working inside and since it was only 1 p.m. I knew they were open. I rattled the door to get someone’s attention and a person inside pointed to the door. I assumed this meant to pull harder, but that didn’t work. They pointed again and I saw a small sticker attached to the door saying new (unspecified) security protocols were being put in place. There was no explanation for why the door was locked.

Finally the one customer in the bank at the time left and someone from a back room came out and let me in so I could go to the teller. He informed me that they were only letting one person in at a time for security reasons. He asked if I could do my banking in the vestibule at the ATM. I told him I could not. Why did he think that I was waiting to be let in? I said they really needed to put up a sign explaining what was going on. He said he thought there was a sign. We both looked and he seemed mystified that there was no sign. He was sure there had been a sign at one point. He thought putting up a sign would be a good idea.

At the teller’s, I asked if the bank had been experiencing problems with bank robbers. “You could say that,” the teller said, without lifting his eyes from his computer screen. I later went online and saw that there had been an attempted bank robbery in another part of the city the day before. Apparently a couple of guys came in wearing motorcycle helmets, demanding cash. They didn’t get any and so drove away. It didn’t seem like much of a plan.

As I did my business at the desk another customer entered the vestibule and started rattling at the door, a totally perplexed and increasingly angry look on his face. When I got done the same fellow from the back room appeared and ushered me out and let the new person in. I repeated that they needed to put a sign up explaining what was going on. He agreed and said he was going to “tell them about it.”

In brief, another one of those incidents where you just wonder what’s wrong with the world and the people in it. If you’re going to lock the doors to your business while you’re still open for business, putting a sign on the door explaining what’s going on isn’t just a good idea. Get a sheet of paper and a Sharpie, write a message like “Only One Customer Allowed Entry at a Time,” and then tape it to the door! I know banks are doing all they can to discourage in-person banking, but this is ridiculous. There are days when the world doesn’t make sense to me anymore.