8
Part I – Rising Expectations
We haven’t seen anything yet
It was a hot summer afternoon about 2:00 PM and I had a problem. I was at 590
Madison Avenue in a conference room on the ninth floor discussing the future of
the Internet with some IBM customers. I glanced at my watch and realized that I
had until 3:00 PM to wire some money to my attorney for a personal transaction.
The money was in a money market fund at GE Capital. I called there to see if
they could get the funds wired before my deadline. The folks at GE were very
cordial and said it was no problem to wire money because I already had standing
instructions that could enable me to wire funds to my bank at any time. I told
them this transaction was not to my bank but rather to my attorney. In that case,
they said they would have to fax me a form to set up new instructions. I said I
had all the information and could give it to them over the phone. They insisted
they needed to fax me a form. I said that I could tell that the conversation was
being recorded and because they already asked me my social security number,
home address, mother’s maiden name, date of birth that surely they knew that I
was who I said I was. I asked if I could just give them the information. “What is
your fax number?” was the only response I was going to get. 590 Madison
Avenue is not where my office is located. I was borrowing an office for this
meeting in New York City and I had no idea where the fax machine was let alone
the fax machine number. So, I scurried around the ninth floor looking for a fax
machine where I could receive the form. I was fortunate to find a helpful
administrative person who told me which machine to use and he gave me the
number. I called GE back and shortly I had the form. I excused myself to the
customers telling them I would be just a few more minutes. Wishful thinking as it
turned out. Filling out the required data for my attorney was easy but filling out a
form with my personal data that they already had in their system was annoying.
Then I got to the bottom of the form. It was labeled “Signature Guarantee”.
2:30 and counting
A lump forms in my stomach and I am getting nervous. It is 2:30 and I have only
until 3:00. Even though I knew what “Signature Guarantee” meant I had this
naïve feeling that maybe I could talk GE out of it. After all, someone had already
asked for my personal data on a recorded line and confirmed all my security
information. I called to confirm what I feared. I would have to go to a bank and
get my signature guaranteed. Horrors! A bank! Not my favorite place to visit. I
called information and asked for the nearest Chase Manhattan Bank. The
address I got was just a block away. Relief. I raced for the elevator and ran down
the street. On the big glass door was posted a sign: “We have moved to a new
location”. I raced around the corner and down the street to the new location.
Beginning to sweat. I went into the bank and got in line behind quite a few other
people. At the head of the line was a person who was talking to the teller. Not
sure what they were talking about but the teller was thumbing through a Rolodex!
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