These were times of ATMs, the ticket still existed and we Venezuelans queued to get our money from these devices. It was tempting fate: that he still had money when our turn came, that he didn't put himself out of order, that he actually dispensed what we asked for, and that he didn't "eat" our card.

The cautious Venezuelan, once his turn came, hunched over the screen as much as he could, to take space from the inopportune person who was following him in the queue, who, with the desire to help or to find out what the process was like, tried to put He shook his head and once his curiosity was satisfied, he turned to inform the rest of the queue: "yes, it's happening."

It must be recognized that this information satisfied those of us who were behind, so we could wait confidently. Because of how diverse the Venezuelan way of being is, each one has their own way of confronting the broadcasting apparatus.

There were those who, once they received the money, counted it thoroughly before leaving the screen and giving the other a chance, when they nodded satisfied, we all breathed, the matter was going well; others, until they put everything in their respective bags, did not leave the site; Others repeatedly hit the button that said “cancel” with a finger, perhaps thinking that in this way they were closing their coffers well and whoever came after them would not have access to it.

Venezuelan who respects himself, speaks in the queue and recounts his monetary misadventures out loud: that time they changed his card and took all his reais or when it took him a long time to withdraw them and the machine "suck" them again and he was left watching for the sides with no money and no chance of recovering them, because they had already been debited.

A young man I know saw a young woman drop her bills before getting into a taxi, he ran, picked them up and signaled to the taxi before it started, to give the young woman back what was hers, and when he returned to his seat they told him that he had lost his seat, to get in line again; there was no lack of someone who murmured that this was considered stupid, (put the other word).

The anecdote I want to tell is the following: on one occasion I went to get money, there were two queues, because only two lockers were working, (I don't know why I always selected the one that made less progress), in the parallel queue and at the height of where I was, a man put his hands to his mouth like a horn and shouted: "THAT'S FOR INTELLIGENT", all that to annoy the person who was trying to get money and it took too long, the man waited a few moments and came back with the same and with more voice: «ESO ES PARA IN-TE-LI-GEN-TES», emphasizing each syllable.

His column advanced more than mine and very soon he was in front of the cashier, he had to live the same situation as the man he made fun of for a long time, and he couldn't get anything, nobody yelled at him, the screen went black with his message "Out of Service" and all those who were there with him included had to go to the end of the queue of the now only teller.

Yes, I laughed. The universe has its way of making humor because if we look closely at any everyday event it can become funny.

Thanks for your reading

My content is original
Pixabay images
I used google translate

Versión en español

Estos eran tiempos de cajeros automáticos, todavía existía el billete y los venezolanos hacíamos colas para sacar nuestro dinero de estos aparatos. Era tentar a la suerte: de que aún tuviera dinero cuando llegara nuestro turno, de que no se pusiera fuera de servicio, de que realmente nos dispensara lo que le habíamos solicitado y de que no se «comiera» nuestra tarjeta.

El precavido venezolano una vez que llegaba su turno se encorvaba lo más que podía sobre la pantalla, para quitarle espacio al inoportuno que le seguía en la cola, que con el afán de ayudar o de enterarse bien de cómo era el proceso, trataba de meter la cabeza y una vez satisfecha su curiosidad volteaba a informar al resto de la cola: «sí, está dando».

Es de reconocer que esa información satisfacía a quienes íbamos detrás así podíamos esperar confiados. Por lo variopinta que es la manera de ser del venezolano cada uno tiene su forma de enfrentarse al aparato emisor.

Había quien, una vez recibido el dinero, lo contaba minuciosamente antes de retirarse de la pantalla y darle chance al otro, cuando asentía satisfecho todos respirábamos, el asunto iba bien; otros, hasta que no guardaban todo en sus respectivas carteras no se quitaban del sitio; otros, golpeaban con un dedo repetidas veces la tecla que decía «cancelar» pensando quizá que de esa manera estaban cerrando bien sus arcas y el que viniera detrás no iba a tener acceso a la misma.

Venezolano que se respeta, habla en la cola y cuenta sus desventuras monetarias a viva voz: aquella vez que le cambiaron la tarjeta y le sacaron todos sus reales o cuando se tardó mucho en retirarlos y la máquina los «chupó» de nuevo y quedó viendo para los lados sin dinero y sin chance de recuperarlos, porque ya habían sido debitados.

Un muchacho que conozco, vio como una joven se le caían sus billetes antes de subirse a un taxi, él corrió, los recogió e hizo señas al taxi antes de que arrancará, para devolverle a la joven lo suyo, y cuando volvió a su sitio le dijeron que había perdido su puesto, que hiciera la cola de nuevo; no faltó quien murmurara que eso le pasaba por bobo, (ponga usted la otra palabra).

La anécdota que quiero contar es la siguiente: en una oportunidad fui a sacar dinero, había dos colas, porque solo dos taquillas estaban trabajando, (no sé porque siempre seleccionaba la que avanzaba menos), en la cola paralela y a la altura de donde yo estaba, un hombre se ponía las manos en la boca como bocina y gritaba: «ESO ES PARA INTELIGENTES», todo aquello para molestar a la persona que estaba tratando de sacar dinero y se tardaba demasiado, el hombre esperaba unos breves momentos y volvía con lo mismo y con más voz: «ESO ES PARA IN-TE-LI-GEN-TES», enfatizando en cada sílaba,

Su columna avanzó más que la mía y muy pronto estuvo frente al cajero, le tocó vivir la misma situación que al hombre del cual se burló mucho rato, y no pudo sacar nada, nadie le gritó a él, la pantalla se puso en negro con su mensaje «Fuera de Servicio» y todos los que estaban ahí con él incluído les tocó ir al final de la cola del ahora único cajero.

Sí, me reí. El universo tiene su manera de hacer humor porque si nos fijamos bien cualquier evento de la cotidianidad se puede volver gracioso.