Boring and long. Such was the morning for Betty, a clerk in a bank, that day.

She had done all her work for that day and there were no customers at her desk when a man entered the bank and came straight to her desk.

‘How can I help you?’ Betty asked the man. He was in his thirties, casually dressed and he was wearing a dark blue baseball cap.

‘I want the money’ he said and unzipped his bag. He put the bag on her desk.

‘Sure, can I have your ID, please,’ said Betty and looked at the bag.

‘My ID?’

‘Yes, your ID. You do have an account with us, don’t you?’ explained Betty what she meant.

‘No, I don’t,’ said the man. ‘And I don’t want any account with your bank either. I want your bank’s money. So please, put them quickly into the bag so that I can get out of here.’

‘What money?’ asked Betty.

‘What what money? All of it!’ said the man.

‘I still will need your ID, sir.’

‘Are you thick?’ said the man and raised his voice.’ Lady, this is a bank robbery! So, will you, please, put all the money in the bag?’

The other people in the bank looked at the man and Betty, but they didn’t say anything. They didn’t care.

‘Like you are a bank robber…‘

‘Of course, I am!’

‘Yeah, right,’ yawned Betty. ‘And where’s your gun? You don’t really expect me to give you any money without your gun being pointed at me.’

‘Sure I have a gun,’ said the robber. He was feeling offended now.

‘Show me,’ said Betty. ‘Where is it?’

‘Well, here it is, if you don’t believe me!’ said the man and pulled a gun from his jacket. ‘Now, give me the money.’

‘That’s a fake gun, man,’ said Betty and she yawned again.

‘It’s not fake! It’s real!’ shouted the man.

‘No, it isn’t. And there are not bullets in it either.’

‘There are bullets in it. Many bullets. This gun is full of bullets, girl,’ said the bank robber. But his voice was shaking now. He was getting nervous.

‘Yeah? So why don’t you shoot me?’ said Betty.

‘What?’

‘Yes, you heard me right,’ said Betty and she leaned back on her chair. ‘Come on, sissy. Shoot! Shoot me now!’

‘And who will put the money into my bag?’ asked the confused man.

‘Have you ever robbed a bank, sweetie?’

‘Yes, I have. Plenty,’ said the man, but he was not very convincing.

‘No, you haven’t.’

‘Yes, I have.’

‘You haven’t,’ said Betty and she started to arrange the papers on her desk. ‘If you robbed a bank, you would know that the banks do not have any money.’

‘What do you mean that the banks have no money!?’ said the shocked bank robber. He now put his hand with the gun down. ‘What do the banks have, if not the money??’

‘They have DEBT, stupid!’ said Betty.

She started reading the papers and, without looking at him again, she waved at the man to take his bag off her desk and go home.

clerk /klɑːk/ – úradník

casually dressed /ˈkæʒuəli drest/ – voľne, pohodlne oblečený

account /əˈkaʊnt/ – účet (v banke, atď)

get out of here – vypadnúť odtiaľto

Are you thick /θɪk/ – si natvrdlá?

robbery /ˈrɒbəri/ – lúpež

Like you are a bank robber… – no ty si tak lupič…

offended /əˈfendɪd/ – dotknutý, urazený

bullet /ˈbʊlɪt/ – guľka, náboj

sissy /ˈsɪsi/ – slaboch, padavka

convincing /kənˈvɪnsɪŋ/ – presvedčivý

debt /det/ – dlh