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Que-Bert

An open (and also real) letter to Citibank:

Hi,

I made an appointment with one of your representatives to pick up an approved loan check at 9:30am Friday September 17, 2004.

Not sure if you're aware of this, but the staff at the Flatbush, Brooklyn branch could use some help. Really.

I arrived (admittedly a little late, but still early by New York standards) at 9:46am and put my name on a list. At 1:00pm I walked out the door with cash in account (thanks, by the way). Did I mention that I was the THIRD person on the list since the bank opened?

While waiting for my turn I had a chance to play Q-Bert on my mobile phone. If you're anything like me it's not only been many years since you played, but you also resent both Q-Bert and the werid faux-3D nightmare that he inhabits.

Here are my notes on the Java edition of Q-Bert (in no particular order):

• Your enemies have no respect. Seriously. They have no qualms with trampling you when you're cornered and will wack you in the back of the head as you make your very first move off the top cube


• The first level is too hard, don't you think? Here I am at 11:00 am, just two hours after my sceduled appointment was to take place, kicking butt in level 2/2 and make a few mistakes during (now) routine moves (my fault) and lose the game. The very next round I'm ousted on the first board. Need I say more?


• Doesn't it seem kind of strange that the opening screen for this kids game is a mug shot of some freak animal/thing shouting obscenities? (even though you'll find yourself doing the same thing on level one)


• Actually, now that I think about it, using the standard censorship for obscenities on the first screen probably saved them thousands of dollars on foreign language translations.

So after filling up all the slots in the "top scores" section I've warmed up to the game a bit -- maybe you should check it out, too and recapture a bit of your youth, that is, after you hire more bankers in Brooklyn.

Yours,

Aaron Deutsch
Citibank Customer

Posted by Aaron R. Deutsch on September 17, 2004 | Comments (2)

Startup sequence

Brooklyn: The starting point for many Americans, and the "reset button" for others already living here.

Posted by Aaron R. Deutsch on September 17, 2004 | Comments (0)