Why 'opening' hours here turn me into a grumpy cow. (Suzanne)

About a month ago, I applied for a credit card. I was told that I’d get it in 5-10 working days. So today, wondering why it hadn’t arrived yet, I thought I’d go harass the bank staff about it. Wanting to be relatively efficient, I thought I’d log onto my internet banking account and check the status first in case I could resolve my problem without having to make a trip down to the bank.

This is where things went horribly wrong.

Firstly, I accidentally froze my bank account by making too many typos in the password.

Secondly, when I was trying to get it reset, I also got the password reset feature frozen because I couldn’t figure out how to input my account number into the online form (it only allowed a 10-digit number, whereas the version on my bank statement has at least 15 digits).

Finally, when I decided to just go to the bank in person and get it sorted, the bank was closed. At 4 pm. On a weekday.

This is where I have to vent.

Seriously, don’t people in this country WORK on weekdays? How the hell are you supposed to go to the bank if the only time that it’s open is 9-4 on weekdays? I mean, at least in university you might have a morning free, but what do other people do? Take sick leave from work every time they need to go to the bank?

And this is really not the only situation where the opening hours in Australia have really, really annoyed me. The music library is not open on weekends, which means I can’t do research assignments over the weekends. The ordinary libraries are only open from 10-5 on weekends. Shops close ridiculously early, too – going shopping on a late Sunday afternoon here is like trying to find a swimming pool in the middle of the Sahara. It would be absolutely unthinkable for anything to be closed on a weekend in Hong Kong. All my friends in universities in the UK or the US or Canada have libraries that are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. How on EARTH do people here survive?

Bah. Now I’m going to be cranky until I sort this mess out tomorrow.

EDIT: I have calmed down now. Apologies to any bankers, librarians, and/or ordinary Australians insulted/offended by the above spleen-venting.

EDIT2: Aaaand… my bank account is unfrozen now! Yay!