I had to go to the post office in the centre of Swindon today.
Recorded delivery shit, the kind of stuff that one has to actually go to the post office to undertake.
I arrived at the queue at 11.25.
I got served at…
Wait for it…
12.07.
While I was standing in the beautiful (not) queue in Swindon’s quaintly charming (not) post office I had much (way too much) time to read the many informative posters about me.
Of course, if I was there to buy a premium service, such as having my passport application checked, I could have joined a different and far shorter queue (i.e. zero people).
But instead I had to take my place with the rest of the cattle.
Where was I?
Oh yes, informative posters.
Well here’s a digest from one:
The Swindon post office is closing and relocating to…
A shop.
I mean an existing shop – a WH Smith to be precise.
I had much time – 42 minutes to be precise – to wonder how on earth this change is going to work, and how it is going to impact on the rest of WH Smith.
Still.
Not my problem.
Someone else’s though, surely?
B.
Queuing at post offices over here is the same. Half an hour is not surprising me, unfortunately.
They are talking of switching some to local shops in rural areas but there is a huge contest front against that, from both unions and customers.
I talked with some Swedish colleagues. They told me they had the same problem with post offices but those don’t exist anymore, it’s all in shops now.
Shame it seems to be the only solution. What else can be done? I don’t know but waiting in queues when what you need to do takes only a couple of minutes is really a pain.
I’m surprised you had to go as far as to Swindon for your stuff. Wow
froggywoogie: Nah, I was in Swindon on business. 🙂 But the closure of rural post offices is an issue over here that is being glossed over…
Probably because the London-based media wouldn’t know ‘rural’ if they fell over it and therefore the Government can steam-roller this kind of change through with little vocal opposition.