The Teller’s Poem

I started watching close today
How software handles bills and pay;
I used to not – assumed it true,
But lately errors came to view.

For nigh on thirty years there's been
Few errors I have ever seen;
But now I see them here and there,
As paper copies I compare.

The other day it came again;
I asked, the teller looked in pain
As if the task's too hard to do
Since software changed procedures' rules.

I've seen it – all accounts on screen,
As sorry mess I've ever seen;
It's easy to create mistakes –
Six errors in three months – oh great!

No doubt solutions will be found,
But what I see – a teller ground
Into the dirt with tools that fail
From poor design – quite sad the tale.

So don't inhale the error made,
It's at the feet of software laid
By me, at least – I understand,
And hope the geeks soon lend a hand.

For work should not our people crush
As we move forward in our rush
To be the first and best through strife –
There's so much more for all in life –

There's laughter, love, and family;
The warmth of coming spring I see;
Lift up your eyes, beyond the till –
When work's all done, there's life there still.

The Psalmist wrote an ancient verse,
Which in my mind I now rehearse:
“Lift up your eyes – up to the hills
God's kept in past, and surely will –

“Whenever we pass through the door
When off to work, or wedding, war –
And when from there we come back in,
God keeps our life – so we can sing.”

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