Graham Greene, Our Man In Havana

Drawing a cheque is not nearly so simple an operation in an American bank as in an English one. American bankers believe in the personal touch; the teller conveys a sense that he happens to be there accidentally and he is overjoyed at the lucky chance of the encounter. 'Well,' he seems to express in the sunny warmth of his smile, 'who would have believed that I'd meet you here, you of all people, in a bank of all places?' After exchanging with him news of your health and of his health, and after finding common interest in the fineness of the winter weather, you shyly, apologetically, slide the cheque towards him (how tiresome and incidental all such business is), but he barely has time to glance at it when the telephone rings at his elbow. 'Why, Henry,' he exclaims in astonishment over the telephone, as though Henry too were the last person he expected to speak to on such a day, 'what's the news of you?' The news takes a long time to absorb; the teller smiles whimsically at you: business is business.