6 am - In line for...Money.
Cash is the next great crisis. The ATM and credit card network (there is only one, owned by Banco Popular; all other banks and merchants use that network.) is down of course. Only one Banco Popular branch - the one at the Aguadilla Mall - is "open." The lines to use the ATM are as much as 13 hours long. One other bank, 1st Bank, has one branch open and has a working ATM.
Becuause the network is down, everything is "Cash Only." You can get as much gas as you want - if you have cash. There is food - if you have cash. No water to buy though, no matter how much cash you have.
Or Clorox. No one has Clorox.
So I;m in line for the ATM at 1st Bank. If that doesn't work, I'll head down the road to get in the Banco Popular line.
9:15 am - 1st Bank's ATM uses the Claro (the Puerto Rico Telephone Company) data system. Claro's cell system has been working - the only one that has - but thier data system has been down for a couple of days and is still down. No ATM at 1st Bank today. Off to get in line at Banco Popular.
4:00 pm - It took six hours of standing n line, but I have cash. Someone said that by the time I got there around 9:30 there were a thousand people in line. I don't know if that's accurate, but I don't doubt it; there were a lot of people
Banco Popular is much maligned, and for the most part deservedly so. But they have this down pat. The long single line starts in the road in front of the mall parking garage, runs almost to the Banco Popular entrance, then turns back and runs along the side of the mall to the end of the parking garage, crosses the road, and then runs back through the length of the parking garage back acroass the road to Banco Popular. By the bank entrance they split the line in two, one for BP customers, one for OBCs (Other Bank Customers) to use the ATMs. There are two ATMs, each with a BP employee. She (almost every BP employee I saw was female) inserts your card, punches the buttons, asks you how much money you want (up to either $500 or your balance), you enter your pin number, money comes out. Thank you. Next! It is as fast and efficient as it can be.
A note on the U.S. military: supposedly they are here to help with relief efforts. They may be doing a lot more elsewhere but here, in our area, I've only seen them guarding the lines at gas stations and now at the bank.
We have seen them participate in zero relief efforts. One local restaurant, owned by a Norte Americano, a "mainlander," posted a sign "Free Food for Active Military." I'm all for supporting the military. Assuming they are helping other areas of the island, we appreciate their presence and their assistance. The "free food" sign ticked me off a little. The active military on the island have food. They have supplies. As I wrote earlier, the Coast Guard PX was commandeered for active military only. Why not have a "free food for the neighborhood" night? Have a get together, maybe host a potluck for those nearby who were hit hard by the hurricane. Invite the military if you want. But why give to those who already have rather than to those who really need? I don't get it.
No comments:
Post a Comment