Black Elderly Woman Humiliated at the Bank, Luckily Patrick Mahomes Was There
It was a late afternoon at the First Pacific Bank on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles—a busy, ordinary day, or so it seemed. Long lines stretched from the service counters toward the entrance, a steady hum of impatient whispers filling the air. Customers tapped their feet, checked their phones, and let out weary sighs, all hoping their errands would finish soon.
Behind one of the counters stood Brittany Wallace, a young teller with tired eyes. She had worked at the bank long enough to know which customers tended to demand urgent attention, and which ones could be brushed off. The flurry of activity around her did little to brighten her demeanor; if anything, it made her more impatient.
Into this tense atmosphere stepped Linda Carter, a 73-year-old retired schoolteacher. A slender, soft-spoken Black woman, Linda had an envelope of bank statements clasped tightly in her hand. She had always prided herself on her independence. Even in her golden years, she managed her finances meticulously, stretching her small pension to cover bills and the occasional treat. But lately, Linda had noticed a string of puzzling fees on her account—fees she had never seen before and certainly had never agreed to.
Linda quietly waited her turn. When she finally reached Brittany, she greeted the teller with a polite smile, her voice low and respectful. “Good afternoon,” Linda said, sliding her envelope toward Brittany. “I’m hoping you can help me. These charges started appearing two months ago, and I’m not sure what they’re for.”
Brittany barely looked up from her screen. “Maintenance fees, ma’am,” she replied curtly. “They’re listed in your contract. If you didn’t read the fine print, that’s not really our fault.”
A flush of embarrassment spread across Linda’s cheeks. She carefully opened her envelope and pulled out the transaction history. “I’ve banked here for decades,” she said, striving to keep her voice calm. “No one ever told me about these new charges, and they never used to appear.”
Brittany exhaled loudly, loud enough that a few onlookers in line cast curious glances. “If you can’t maintain the minimum required balance, you get a fee. That’s just how it works.”
Linda’s hand trembled slightly as she pushed her statements forward again. She had never been one to cause a scene, but the growing sense of being dismissed and belittled was almost overwhelming. “Please. Could you just check? I’m sure there’s been a mistake.”
Before Brittany could respond, the branch manager, Carl Jensen, appeared. He was a tall man in a pristine suit, wearing an expression that radiated impatience. Folding his arms across his chest, he addressed Linda in a clipped tone. “Is there a problem here?”
Brittany straightened. “This customer doesn’t understand our policies, sir.”
Linda glanced between them, feeling suddenly very small. “I’m not trying to argue,” she managed quietly. “I just want to understand why these fees suddenly showed up.”
Carl offered her a practiced smile that did not reach his eyes. “Ma’am, if you cannot keep up with our requirements, then perhaps you should consider banking elsewhere.”
The words hung in the air like an accusation, and Linda felt her eyes sting with tears she refused to let fall. She had been a schoolteacher for over forty years, guiding young minds with patience and compassion, and never had she expected to be spoken to like this—so publicly and so cruelly. A hush fell over the bank lobby. The line that had seemed so restless only moments before grew still, its occupants sensing the tension.
Suddenly, a deep voice cut through the quiet. “Why are you talking to her like that?”
All heads turned. Standing near the entrance was a man in a simple black T-shirt, jeans, and a baseball cap. At first glance, he might have been another customer stepping in to queue. But the moment he pulled off his cap, there was no mistaking him: Patrick Mahomes, the NFL superstar and championship-winning quarterback.
Carl Jensen stiffened, scrambling to maintain authority. “Mr. Mahomes, this is a private matter.”
Patrick Mahomes took a few steps forward. Despite his calm demeanor, there was something undeniably commanding about him. “It doesn’t look private. It looks like you’re humiliating a customer who’s just asking for fairness.”
Linda’s eyes widened. She never expected a famous athlete—let alone Patrick Mahomes—to intervene on her behalf. She held her envelope tight, unsure what to say.
Carl tried to summon the confidence that had vanished the moment Patrick spoke. “This lady fails to meet the account requirements. These are our policies.”
Patrick lifted his chin. “Or maybe it’s an excuse to nickel-and-dime people who won’t fight back.”
Murmurs rippled among the other customers. Some took out their phones and started recording. Brittany looked from Patrick Mahomes to Carl, her earlier bravado dissolving as she realized how bad this might look for the bank.
Patrick turned his gaze to Linda, speaking more gently. “Ma’am, could I see those statements?”
With a slight nod, Linda handed him the papers. He studied them in silence for a moment, then turned back to Carl. “She’s been with your bank for decades. These fees started two months ago, after some ‘policy change.’ So why are there suddenly new charges on her account? Did anyone explain them to her ahead of time?”
Carl tugged at his collar. “Our system automatically applies charges based on set criteria. If she can’t keep up, that’s not our fault.”
Patrick Mahomes’s voice was quiet but firm. “What’s not your fault is how you treat your customers. You mocked her for not being able to pay fees that might be unfair to begin with. That’s on you.”
Carl swallowed. He noticed several phones aimed in his direction. Among them was a young man who seemed to be streaming the incident live. This was a nightmare scenario for any manager—public confrontation with a celebrity, accusations of mistreating an elderly customer, and viral footage that could reach corporate within minutes.
Patrick Mahomes nodded toward the computer at Brittany’s station. “Pull up her account. Let’s see for ourselves.”
Brittany hesitated, then complied. Her keystrokes echoed in the tense silence, and Linda’s account summary flickered onto the screen. Patrick leaned in, scanning the numbers. “So these fees are not only new, but they’re a lot higher than standard maintenance fees.” He straightened, fixing Carl with a measured stare. “This doesn’t look like a minor mistake. It looks like you’re targeting certain customers—maybe the ones least likely to notice or fight back.”
Carl shifted his weight, his complexion turning gray. He opened his mouth to argue, but Patrick Mahomes raised a hand, stopping him. “We’re done with excuses. You’re going to reverse those charges. Now. And you owe her an apology.”
The bank manager’s jaw tightened. “Our corporate guidelines—”
“Your guidelines don’t override basic decency,” Patrick replied. “Reverse them, and fix this. If you don’t, that video—” he pointed at the phone held by the young man— “is going viral. And the headlines won’t be kind to you or this branch.”
A beat passed. Then Carl drew a shaky breath. “Brittany,” he muttered, “reverse the charges.”
Brittany typed frantically. One by one, the unfair fees disappeared from Linda’s account. The tension in the lobby began to lift, replaced by murmurs of relief and a few scattered claps. Linda peered at the screen, barely able to believe the numbers returning to what she remembered.
Patrick Mahomes turned to her with a gentle nod. “Check your balance now, ma’am. Make sure everything’s in order.”
Linda’s voice trembled with gratitude. “It’s perfect. Thank you…thank you so much.”
Carl Jensen stood rigid behind the counter, his face red with humiliation. Before Patrick Mahomes could prompt him, he coughed and managed, “Mrs. Carter, I’m sorry for the inconvenience and how… how things were handled.”
Linda gave the barest nod. Her relief was tempered by exhaustion; it had been a harrowing day. Still, to hear those words felt like the first step toward being seen and respected again.
Patrick Mahomes replaced his cap and looked around the room. “Let this be a reminder. We all deserve respect, no matter our age or our finances.” Then he offered Linda the smallest smile. “Take care of yourself, ma’am.”
With that, he headed for the door. Carl stared after him, unsure how to salvage the situation. The bank lobby was abuzz with excitement, phones still recording. Everyone there understood something remarkable had just happened.
In the days that followed, Linda watched the viral video of her encounter at the bank from the quiet of her living room. News outlets picked it up, and social media erupted with praise for Patrick Mahomes’s intervention. Corporate headquarters for First Pacific Bank issued an official apology and began investigating the branch’s practices. Carl Jensen was swiftly removed from his position, and Brittany was placed under review. Most importantly, the bank refunded not only Linda’s fees but those of countless other customers similarly affected.
One morning, Linda received a small package in the mail. Inside was a handwritten note:
“Mrs. Carter,
You already had the strength to stand up for yourself. You just needed someone on your side. I hope this makes you smile.
—Patrick Mahomes”
Attached was a signed photo and an invitation to watch him play in an upcoming game. Linda set the note on her kitchen table and ran her fingertips over the signature. She allowed herself a rare laugh, thinking back to the moment in the bank when her world had tilted. She’d taught her students for years to speak up for what was right—and now she knew there were still people in the world who would speak up alongside her.
Smiling, Linda slipped the note into a drawer for safekeeping. Her heart felt lighter. The world might not be perfect, but it was a little bit brighter knowing that, sometimes, the right person steps in at just the right time—and that even in the face of injustice, compassion and courage can prevail.
‘Stay bothered.’ Brittany Mahomes claps back — again — at haters after viral trolling
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes and wife Brittany walk off the field after the Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game. She has hit back at critics of her behavior after the game. Emily Curiel [email protected]
Brittany Mahomes clapped back at online trolls — yet again — after a brief video clip from the AFC Championship Game in Baltimore led to headlines Wednesday screaming about her behavior.
In the 11-second TikTok posted by NFLonCBS, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes walks with family members, including wife Brittany, through M&T Bank Stadium after winning the game Sunday.
He kisses her goodbye with a “love you,” and walks off toward the locker room. Brittany turns to a security guy and asks him, “Where do we go from here?” As she says it, she twirls her finger as if to say, “which direction?”
Online viewers called her hand motion “rude” — and those were the nicer comments — and the clip became a headline in several national publications.
Late Wednesday, Mahomes, who is the co-owner of the Kansas City Current women’s soccer team, posted this statement to her Instagram Stories:
“I take rumors as a compliment. The fact that you’re bringing my name onto tables I don’t sit at shows your obsession. Stay bothered,” she wrote.
She’s been here before, just in December in fact, when she was hit with a sudden rise in nasty comments littering her social media accounts.
Some people even took shots at the two young Mahomes children, too.
“Recently there has been ALOT more rude a** people on here, waaaay more (than) normal,” Mahomes wrote on an another Instagram Story then. “I’m not sure where yall came from but you should probably go back to where you came from … please.”
The arrows seem to have become more pointed and frequent in new scrutiny since she befriended Taylor Swift, who is dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
When she hit back at the negativity last month, many of the comments left on her Instagram appeared to be from women.
“WOMEN — you have to stop leaving negative comments on other women’s pages. It is so pathetic, so please just do not say anything if you have nothing positive to say. Blows my mind that grown women have to be reminded of this,” one fan wrote.
“I’m so sorry Britney you don’t deserve these ridiculous comments.”
People have criticized her for everything from expressing her displeasure over referee calls to posing for photos on the sidelines before games. She kisses her husband before every game in a pregame ritual.
Some of the worst of the trolling came in January 2022 before she and Mahomes were married.
After the Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills in a thrilling playoff game, she jubilantly sprayed champagne, and some of it landed on Chiefs fans at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
The backlash became so intense that Kansas City’s Charlie Hustle created a “Team Brittany” T-shirt.
“But seriously … leave Brittany alone,” the company tweeted in introducing the shirt “to call out bullying.”
