So when I was at home cleaning out my Mum’s house, I came across all sorts of stuff.
From every birthday card I had sent my parents.
To old diaries.
To old photos.
And to old letters.
Not love letters. Not family letters. Just letters.
God knows why I/Mum kept them, but as I was chucking them away, I came across this:
Yes, it’s a rejection letter from a bank.
A BANK!!!
An organisation that takes anyone so they can pile mountains of debt on their life.
OK, so this was 1991, but even then, it was pretty rare.
What’s worse is that it wasn’t for a credit card … oh no … it was just to open an account.
That’s right, I got denied the ability to open a bank account.
How bad is that!
Well it gets, errrrm, badder.
Why?
Because First Direct were my clients at the time so I was literally turned away by people who were paying me to make more money for them.
How mental is that?
I remember when I told them what had happened, they pissed themselves.
Literally laughed in my face.
And they still didn’t sort me out. They did the whole “the computer say’s’ no”, bullshit.
Of course, if it happened now, I wouldn’t be surprised given they’re owned by my banking nemesis, HSBC … however back then, at a time where they wanted to position themselves as the ‘bank that cares about their customers’, it was horrible and gave me an early indication that the relationship you have with your client directly relates to the quality of work you do together.