BARRY'S PROMOTION TO EXCHANGE CLERK After a few months Barry was given the responsibility of attending daily cheque exchanges with the other banks in town. At this meeting, all seven exchange clerks from the local banks would go about the process of swapping cheques were drawn on other banks that their respective customers had deposited. Barry would wave a bunch of cheques around that were drawn on the ANZ for example, find that bank’s representative (let’s call him Andy) and carry out a swap where he would give Andy all the ANZ cheques, and Andy would give Barry all the Rural Bank Cheques he had. Exchange clerks would keep a tab on the value of cheques exchanged and would settle the differences once a week. Being in contact with each other every day, these clerks became friends, and rumour has it that once or twice Barry, Andy and others may have popped into the Canberra Hotel for a quick beer after exchanges before returning to their branches. One day, Barry rode his newly purchased motorbike to exchanges because he was running late. Cheque bag reasonably secured to the “sissy bar”, Barry started his machine and exited the staff car park. The problem was however , that the car park’s exit passed directly under the Manager’s office window, and his attempt to exit stealthily was betrayed by the bike's rather noisy motor This act earned the ire of the Manager, who, chastised him on his return. The message was clear: Don’t ride the bike again on bank business. Two weeks later, Barry was again running late, and he thought that if he just wheeled his bike past the Manager’s office out to the main street, then started it, he wouldn’t know. A fine plan, however …. On his journey a vehicle turned sharply in front of Barry without indicating. A collision ensued and Barry flew like a bird over the bonnet. He did not fly for long however and returned rather harshly to the hard bitumen. His bike was no longer a single unit, cheques were scattered on the street, and he was looking like his mother hadn't dressed him properly. His non-attendance in the exchange room caused some concern and led to the clerk from the Bank of NSW ringing his bank to enquire about his whereabouts. Before a search party came looking, he wandered back into his branch with an arm full of cheques, bleeding knees and a ripped shirt. The Manager invited Barry into his office for a nice chat. Surprisingly, he kept his job.