Your luck is about to change
Recently, I bought a bag of fortune cookies. I opened a cookie and read my fortune. “Your luck has been completely changed today.” What? What did this mean? I have been having a pretty good life lately (pretty good luck?). So if my luck is about to change, does that mean I am going to have bad luck?
I am getting ready for a trip to Vietnam. So exciting! I will be arriving at 10 PM at night. I need to take a cab from the airport to my hotel. Since I am arriving late, I don’t know if any currency exchanges will be be open at the airport when I arrive. I decided to get my Vietnamese Dong (that’s what their currency is called) ahead of time. When I traveled to Indonesia 4 years ago, I called the currency exchange at the airport and had the Indonesian Rupiah waiting for me. Now, the world has changed. There is no longer a currency exchange desk at the new Salt Lake Airport. My luck for easily getting foreign currency has changed.
Last week, I decided to go ahead and start looking for a place to exchange my money. I called my bank (one of the largest banks in the US) first thing in the morning and asked about getting Vietnamese currency. They said yes, they could get that for me, it would only take a day or two, and there would be no charge. I was extremely excited. I figured I would go that week, rather than waiting until a few days before my trip. Less than an hour later, I hopped in my car and headed to the bank (the exact branch I had talked to).
When I got to the bank, I approached the teller’s desk and found the teller I had spoken to on the phone. I told her who I was and why I was there. She was enthusiastic and happy to fulfill my request. Then she looked up the request online. Interestingly enough, the bank was not currently supplying Vietnamese Dong. She said they had supplied the currency in the past, but at this moment they did not have any Vietnamese Dong. She apologized profusely and then offered to contact another major bank chain that is here in Salt Lake City. Lucky for me, a branch about a mile away was going to help me out. I went ahead and pulled $500 from my bank account so that I would have the money for the other bank to make my currency transaction.
I got back in my car and headed towards the other bank. It was not on my way to my other errands, but I figured it wasn’t too far out of my way, and they had the foreign currency so it was worth the drive. In just a few minutes, I was at the corner getting ready to make a turn onto the road that the entrance to the bank was on. I was in the left turn lane behind another car, waiting for the light to turn green. When the light turned green, there was also a left turn arrow that turned green. Great! I would make my turn and head straight into the bank. But no. Why? Because about 20 high school students chose to cross the street at that moment, blocking the LEFT TURN GREEN lane. I was pissed. Not only could I not get my money, but I had to wait for these 20 jaywalkers to go by. Didn’t they see that the walk sign showed STOP? Apparently not. I wanted to honk at them, but that would just agitate the driver in front of me who also wanted to make a left turn.
I remembered that just the day before, I had listened to a dharma talk at our Buddhist Fellowship gathering. The Sensei talked about how we can’t change people, and trying to change them only frustrates us. Well here I was, getting frustrated about these walkers. Go figure. I took a few deep breaths and waited. Of course, by the time they were done, the light was no longer a green arrow. I managed to get through just before the light went red.
When I walked into the bank, I was the only customer. The tellers were busy trying to figure something out on their computers. It took a few minutes before they could give me their attention. When they were available, I walked over and explained that I was there to exchange currency and get some Vietnamese Dong. “You’re here for who?” the teller asked. “I am here to exchange US Dollars for Vi-et-na-mese Dong.” I enunciated and said the phrase a little more loudly. This time she understood me. She asked for my debit card. “I don’t bank here,” I told her. She informed me she couldn’t change my money if I didn’t have an account there. She wouldn’t even take my cash. I was quite frustrated. I said, “My bank just called you.” She said, “I know. But we called them back and told them we could only exchange your money if you had an account with us.” I guess that call happened after I had left the bank. Maybe it happened while I was waiting, frustrated that the high school students wouldn’t cross the road.
I got back in my car and decided to call another bank that the teller said would have Vietnamese currency. No sense driving to another bank since that wasn’t very fruitful. This additional bank was a local bank. They said they could provide me with the Vietnamese currency! But they would charge a $10 fee. That seemed okay, but I would have to travel downtown to pickup the money. Downtown? What? Who travels downtown post pandemic? I like my world right around the corner, thank you very much. I could get the money at the local branch, but that would cost an additional $25. I hung up and decided I would try some more banks. I was so frustrated, however, I chose to run a few errands before searching the internet for more banks.
Later that afternoon, I did some searching. It turns out, there are 30 banks in SLC. Out of all of these banks, only a handful of them provide foreign currency exchange. All but two (one being a credit union and the other being the local bank I had just called) required you have a bank account with them. The credit union did not have any Vietnamese Dong. I realized I would have to go back to the bank that insisted I travel downtown to get my money.
Luckily for me, I was able to order the currency at the local branch I can walk to. The next day was a lovely day, so I decided to take a walk. When I got to the branch, it was relatively empty; the teller could assist me right away. I figured I’d be in and out of the branch in just a few minutes. Silly me, I had forgotten my luck had changed. I handed the teller my $500 and drivers license and waited. After about 20 minutes, the teller came back with a receipt, explaining that the main branch downtown would call me when the money was ready. The receipt said that I would be receiving 7,900,000 Dong. I was going to be a millionaire! Then the teller walked away and started typing on her computer again. I would have walked out, but...she had my drivers license. So I waited.... Another 10 minutes later, she handed me my drivers license AND deposit receipts for the $500 and the $10 charge. I’m not sure why those 2 receipts took an extra 10 minutes. Now all I had to do was wait for that phone call. Perhaps my “bad” luck was over?
About 24 hours later, I got a call from the main branch of the bank. They had my Dong, and I could come by and pick them up. How wonderful! It was early afternoon, so I decided I would make my trip downtown right then outside of the rush hour traffic windows. The bank was near a major shopping center that had free 2-hour parking. That sounded convenient, so I would head that way.
When I arrived downtown, I noticed 2 things. One, there had been some construction on the roads, and spots where I used to be able to make turns were now blocked by dividers. Two, the traffic was moving incredibly slowly. I couldn’t believe how long it took to get through traffic light after traffic light. I started to notice colorful and creative clothing on the people out on the street. One person was dressed as a ...mushroom? Was this an early Halloween? As I approached the parking garage, there was a big sign out front stating the garage was full. WTH? Who’s shopping in the middle of a Thursday? A short time later, I discovered there was an anime convention going on. That explained the colorful crowds and the crawling traffic. Of all days to come downtown, why am I here?
Finally, I found a parking spot on the street. It required paying the meter, but I was happy to get out of traffic and give the meter my money.
I went into the bank, showed my ID, and asked for my Vietnamese currency. The teller told me I had to wait. Would I mind sitting down? Geesh. How much waiting was this going to be? Luckily, less than 10 minutes later, a man arrived. He urged me to come with him. We went to a counter, and he counted out my bills. With bills as high as 500,000 Dong, it didn’t take long to count out my money, and I was on my way.
I’m happy to have my money and the ability to pay my taxi driver when I arrive in Hanoi. I’m grateful I was able to find Dong. Hopefully, my change of luck is over and the rest of my trip will be smooth sailing. Or at least smooth taxi riding.
