The Syd Bethune Story-a short story by Austin Mitchell

The Syd Bethune Story

by

Austin Mitchell

         Many of my readers might be thinking that my story, the Young Shoplifters might not be true. The reason is that there is no way a man could be fired and re-employed by the same bank and then be reassigned to the same branch. But it really happened and it was in the 1980s. I don’t think we had TRNs at that time. I first met Syd Bethune (not his real name) at the library when I was studying for an accounting examination. By that time he had lost his job at the first bank and was working at a government agency.  He expressed great disappointment with his present salary. He told us about his former employment and of the circumstances why he had to leave. He claimed that it was after a quarrel with a supervisor. This was about three years later and he decided to try his luck again. He wrote to other banks and his former bank too. Surprisingly only his former bank called him. I saw him the Saturday before he started working and he wasn’t all that pleased that they were sending him to the same branch. I saw him on Tuesday and he told me that only about four or five of the staff were still there. Imagine my surprise when I saw him that Friday evening in sneakers and dressed in casual clothes. He told me that he had received a call this morning summoning him to head office. There he had received a letter of dismissal. He still maintained that the reason for his summary dismissal was the quarrel he had with his former supervisor. Those of us who knew of his shoplifting habits knew better. Lucky for him that he had not resigned from his government job.

TRN-Tax Registration Number