As a former banker who spent the majority of my youth being swamped with work, I know more than anybody else the difficulties of finding romance and how frustrating it can be. This was why I set up a quasi-blind date last week between two eligible DCM and ECM bankers at my old shop.
Well, this was quite an interesting turn of events as it turned out that they had been working on the same trading floor for more than three years, actually sitting just a few metres away from each other. But the first question they asked each other was, to my surprise, about their jobs.
The guy sheepishly chuckled as he asked her what exactly she does — syndication or origination. She slipped in a question about his seniority as she answered. They then went on to complain about the company’s newly enforced ‘no mobile phone policy’ on the trading floor. Who says bankers can’t do small talk!
Call me an old softy, but maybe the new rule can help. I’ve never quite understood the current mania for staring into a mobile phone and swiping the faces of strangers on these so-called dating apps. Keep your chin up (literally) and look around. A little bit of face-to-face human interaction wouldn’t hurt, would it? Who knows it may breathe life into an otherwise dull day.