ATM Roulette

Nathan Road People in Hong Kong exhibit some of their most annoying habits at the ATM.

They get under my skin when queues for the machines become long, such as during month-end.

The trick is finding the shortest line with the fewest number of boneheads. Here's a brief list of offenders:

The Tag Team

This can be a couple or a pair of friends. When they queue, they split, each entering a separate line. When one reaches the machine ahead of the other, the other will move over to stand with his friend. When the first finishes his transaction, the second will then perform his transaction—ahead of everyone else in the queue.

They believe this form of queue-jumping is acceptable.

The Financial Wizard

I have nothing against someone standing in the queue for a deposit machine who has to make several deposits. But I can't stand getting stuck behind a guy who tries to operate the ATM like it was a pinball machine.

A comedian once nailed this annoyance down cold: Don't you hate being behind some genius in the line at the ATM as he tries to pull off some complicated financial transaction? 'Uh, man, could you hurry it up? I need my insulin money.'

The Nosy Nate

When I'm entering my PIN, I take extra caution to cover the keypad with my wallet. No one can see the numbers I punch. I've noticed most people here are sloppy about security—they enter their PINs in full view of anyone who might want to make note. When checking my balance on screen, I use my wallet to shield the display from prying eyes. But some people are so impatient, they lean around the person in front to monitor the transaction, so they can estimate the amount of time it will take before they get to use the machine.

This irks me to no end. The last time someone did this to me, I turned around and looked right at him until he stopped invading my privacy.

The Disbeliever

Dude, when the ATM tells you that you don't have any funds in your account, and that you can't withdraw, don't cancel the transaction, do it all over again, then stand there muttering to yourself as you contemplate what went horribly wrong with your finances.

Trying again a third time is grounds for a beating.

These offenders exist in every busy city, but I hadn't encountered the Tag Team or the Nosy Nate until I moved here.

Do people pull this crap in Vancouver, Toronto, New York and San Francisco?