On the lavatory wall of a colleague’s flat in Hong Kong hangs a framed letter. It is written on HSBC notepaper, and dated January 22, 1998. “Dear Sir,” it begins. “Please note that we have had occasion to return your cheque due to insufficient funds in the above account. This state of affairs is most unsatisfactory and the practice of issuing cheques without first ensuring that there are sufficient funds to meet them must cease forthwith, otherwise it will be necessary for your account in our books to be closed.
我一名同事在其香港公寓的衛(wèi)生間墻上掛了封裝裱好的信件。信是用匯豐(HSBC)的信紙寫的，日期是1998年1月22日。信這樣寫道：“尊敬的先生：謹(jǐn)請注意，由于上述帳戶資金余額不足，我們不得不退回您的支票。發(fā)生這種事情讓人非常不愉快，今后在簽發(fā)支票前請您務(wù)必事先確認(rèn)賬戶中留有足夠資金，否則我們將被迫關(guān)閉您在我行的賬戶。您忠實(shí)的P?曼達(dá)爾(P. Mandal)，班加羅爾分行客戶存款部助理經(jīng)理。”