Introduction

I move slowly toward the intersection, cars jammed ahead and behind. I need the slow pace because I am on my mobile trying to understand what my husband is saying. Over the phone, his words are clear, but what he is saying is incomprehensible. He explains that he is at the bank surrounded by a crowd, all doing the same thing: trying to withdraw as much money as possible, because – as he puts it – “there is no way of knowing what will happen.”