It is the simple things I miss…

My son needs to get a new Bank account. 

He has known this for a couple of months, yet he has delayed the trip to the local village to start the new bank account.

That is not entirely true, he did go down to the bank before, but he didn't take enough documentation to prove his age, his home address, his occupation, his shoe size etc.… so he got disheartened, and I can see why. 

On his second journey down to the bank with his newly gathered documentation, he was told he must make an appointment so they could process his application correctly. He failed on this second attempt, or maybe it is more accurate to say they failed him!!

In my son's words…

'Dad, the bank was empty, so I don't get the need for all this hassle. It is just a joke.'

He got scunnered after this visit. Again, I can see why.

So he has lost some of his energy for joining adult life because of the challenge in taking out a couple of bank accounts that will help him in the long run. The irony is that he already has an account with this bank and has a decent amount of savings. But the account is in my name as guardian, but he has the bank book in his possession and took it with him as proof of who he is. No joy, go figure.

That 'loss of energy' is a side issue and an attitude thing that I know he will get over because he has a positive mindset. He has a habit of going back one step and going forward with two, it is his way.

The real frustration for young modern-day life is how complex 'the system' makes things these days, and I know because I talk to my son and daughter all the time. They ask great questions about this stuff all the time… 

'like why? I don't get why it has to be so complicated?... seriously Dad, why does it have to be like that?... Someone needs to change that because that is just stupid.' 

(often followed by an exasperated gasp of expelled air that reeks of temporary defeat)

This new generation is not up for the complicated bureaucracy that constitutes modern, grown-up life. They will not have the energy or the patience for it, and they will just go elsewhere if you peeve them off. As an example, they avoid the less traditional banks and gravitate towards more of the new style banks because the new banks meet their needs better. Simple, fast, effective and online.

Note: we do know that the new banks will eventually be swallowed up by the old banks, and we will be back at the beginning again. As they say, you can't stop progress!!

I get the frustration that my kids display at times, and many businesses will also have to get that if they want to stay in the game longer.

It is a fair point. The form filling and gerrymandering of who you need to speak to to get things done is getting out of control. It also frustrates me these days, and I know you, the readers here, are possibly the same.

The form filling is all put in place to protect your data and to avoid criminal money moving around and all that other nasty stuff. But I get the feeling that the 'cure' is like fighting Aids with an aspirin.

The real problem is much more endemic and needs a closer look upwards, to you know... like, in the direction of Panama. (sshhh!!)

Anyway, I am not sure it was that much more straightforward in my day. It did seem so, but I am not so sure. I thought that technological advances would make things easier, but now it seems that will not be the case…

Humans have a tendency to complicate things even as we make things easier for ourselves.

"It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life and in change there is power." 

Alan Cohen.

If I was back in Scotland, I think I could help my son embrace the change into adult life more, and I am sure my experience of form filling could help simplify it all for him. 

So in a way, I do miss the is simple things in life.

But then, is life meant to be simple?

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