India's ATM Aggression

---

The first time I used an ATM in India, I got a preview of Indians' different standards for privacy. It was one of my first days in India, and I was very concerned about security.

Meg and I entered the walk-in ATM by our hotel in Delhi. I took my ATM card out of my wallet (the geeky kind that straps around my body underneath my shirt). As I was entering in my information, another man entered the tiny room.

In the US, privacy is very respected around ATMs. People give you the space you need, especially when entering in your information.

Not so in India.

The man was all up in my space, standing inches behind me and to my right, with full view of the screen and keypad. Sometimes, people do things that are so unexpected, I am simply as a loss of what to do in response, and therefore do nothing.

This was one of those times.

My main concern was that when my money came out, he would try to grab it and run. So I covered my hand when I input my PIN number, and was careful to protect my money. The rest of the transaction was uneventful.

Beyond his aggressive stance, everything was OK.

A week later, I was at the receiving end of another tourist's response to being threatened at an ATM. In Dharamshala, I walked into an ATM room while someone was using one of the ATMs. Clearly uncomfortable, a European woman yelled rapidly at me, "I'm using the ATM please leave me alone thank you bye!"

I pointed at the other ATM in the room.

She nodded as if to grant me permission, and I continued. By the time the two of us had finished, the room was full of at least 5 Indian men crowding us. I think this woman felt the same discomfort at being crowded at the ATM, but was less shy in dealing with it.

Since that first circumstance, I have come to accept a much more lax stance on ATM privacy. I even learned the value of aggression.

Cash-strapped from a rare shopping spree and about to book a multi-day camel safari in Jaisalmer, I headed to an ATM with Paul, a fellow traveler.

He went inside first. I stayed outside the ATM room, giving him his space. After only a few seconds, he came out. "It's broken?" I asked. I went inside, while he tried again. An Indian man tried to come in, pushing the door against me. I was standing far back, giving Paul his space. The man walked in front of me, crowding Paul like I had been in Delhi. I wasn't about to let myself be cut in line, but didn't want to be part of the crowding. Once Paul finished, I would take my place.

But as Paul turned to me, the machine unable to read his card, the man rushed to the machine. I then stood behind this man as he proceeded to make over a dozen transactions while I waited, exasperated. He would check his balance of one card, then try to take out a balance that was too high, then take out a balance that went through, then count his money, check his receipt, and toss his receipt on the floor.

He repeated this exact process with at least 4 different cards.

Meanwhile, a small mob of Indian men was forming behind me in the room. I got my aggression on, making sure that I wouldn't be skipped again. He had absolutely no qualms about entering personal info, using a single finger so that the whole room could see his PIN number (2256, incidentally).

To end his final transaction, he checked his account balance on the screen. I even leaned back, allowing full view of the screen, as if to show off to the mob that even after taking out all that cash, he still had a balance of over Rs80,000 ($1,300).

The moment he stepped away, I was at the machine, card in hand.

As I will be for all future transactions - I will not be cut in line again.

---

Comments

[Paul]

Try going to the doctor
couldn't of written that better my self. Going to the doctor is even worse, five people in the room while you tell the doctor your symptoms. Then the entire families of other the four other patients being treated by nurses peering into the room

[Bridget]

Love It
I am sitting at my desk and laughing out loud like a deranged person. Thank you. :o)