Pensioners and welfare seekers number large among those who stand in line outside the town’s public and private concerns dispensing riches. Thursdays, before opening time, there is a queue outside the Post Office for payouts. Recently the government decided to move our Post Office from the main thoroughfare to a dark corner of a modern piazza. Rumours flew around that the PO was being shut down. There were no denials. The shortage of good PR was such that even the staffers did not appear to know their fate.
The new office is small and a cheerless, as much for the clientele, as the civil servants parked behind its bullet proof glass.
Outside the main banks most days to the week, clusters of people block the sidewalks waiting for the countdown. Banks do not unbolt their doors until ten and sometimes 10:30 am; and if you are thirty seconds late at closing time, too bad. The bankers issued much ballyhoo in the past about how IT would provide more time for staff to spend with their customers. We would all cuddle up together and nothing would be much trouble.
Post Crunch, banks are not recruiting and those who leave are not being replaced. Unless they are big shots, that is.
The Credit Union remains the most humane of money dispensaries in our town.
