It only took a few seconds; a man approached the bank teller in such a casual manner that an employee, working only a few feet away, didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.
However, the note he handed the teller changed all that.
There were no guns blazing in this bank robbery.
“I want money and I have a gun,” the note read, according to the teller.
“It was like, wow, this is really happening,” he added. “It was very surreal.”
When the robber left, everyone working that day heard the words no bank employee wants to hear, “we’ve just been robbed.”
It was a shock to the other workers. No one noticed the robbery taking place until the man left. The event has certainly grabbed their attention since.
The teller who received the note mentioned employees not in the building were more alarmed by what happened then he was. Having heard of the robbery on the news and from text messages they came to work the next day nervous about what had happened.
The robber took with him the sense of security felt by the employees before he walked through those doors.
“When someone opens the door I look up to see who it is every time now,” the bank manager said. Something she hadn’t done in the past. Although doing so is standard operating procedure for the bank, this is hardly the way she should have been reminded.
Other bank employees have also noticed a change in their routines. Most bank tellers are trained to be mindful of potential robberies at all times; but now the hazard of their work has splashed them in the face like a bucket of icy water.
“Now you’re aware, it’s actually a reality,” said the teller who was robbed. “It’s actually happened.”
Although the guard is meant to enhance security he is also a reminder to each of the bank’s customer’s that the place they are entering has been robbed –and that it can happen again.
The robbery has affected bank employees in more than a psychological manner. Every employee must attend a mandatory training meeting next week. Workers will stay after hours, keeping them from other plans, friends and family, without pay.
As a whole, the situation certainly could have been worse. The bank manager shared a story of a robbery years ago when a gun was actually pointed at her and a fellow employee. She rebounded from the experience but said it was too much for one of her co-workers who quit not long after the event.
In this case, thankfully, no one was hurt and no weapon was ever drawn. Soon things will surely inch their way back to normal at this bank. Some will forget, but some might not.
The bank itself seems to have moved on from the robbery for the most part. It was open for business the very day after the robbery. Even the fact that police have not yet apprehended the robber doesn’t seem to faze most workers.
Now the attention turns to finding the man that walked into that bank with a note. A note that got him enough cash to make up a small percentage of the finders fee offered by the bank, the FBI on his trail and federal charges awaiting for him upon his apprehension.
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