I had a call put through to me today from one of our middle-management chappies who, after the usual pleasantries, explained that he was assessing staffing levels and making sure that skills matched needs in the branch network, and as a result he was pleased to offer me a full-time position at our Strathpine branch.

My immediate response was a definite "NO! No, I don't want that." I felt sick inside; heart racing, palms sweaty, and adrenaline spiking as I prepared to fight over it.

"That's a pretty strong refusal," he said, "may I ask why?"

I told him that I already travelled for an hour to work every day and had no intention of spending any longer in travel time. There was a brief silence, before he said "Oh, this is MW, isn't it? I was looking for MD - is she there today?" MD is a relief teller who shares my first name, and was filling in at our branch today.

After that we joked about it for a little bit, and he commented "What must you have thought about being offered a teller's role?" That's when I pointed out that I heard the "Strathpine" bit but didn't hear the "teller" bit. If I had, I might very well have hung up on him then and there. Which wouldn't have been a very smart career move, not at all.