... just can say: Welcome in the Europe of the 21st century. It`s not a typical British, much more a European problem. The town where I live (population 63000 approx.) had 3 post-offices. They closed all three and gave the business in private hands. Just one shop left, who has the "Mail-section" in his Electronic- shop. But no additional person was hired, instead of this the clerk behind the counter has to serve two lines: One for the shop and one for the mail. And the orders from his boss are clear: Electric-spares first. So, if you want to give up some letters or packages, take a book to read with as it`ll take about 40 minutes in the morning and up to 60 minutes of waiting at the evening time.
But they say, this is more effective and would save costs. But nobody can explain, why post-service had another increase. It leads to another fat bonus for some managers, leads to more unemployeed, the shares (which you cannot buy as too expensive and in certain hands) bring out another higher profit and they use this money to buy other companies to save taxes for... " creating and saving jobs".
So- if you are retired and have your pension- enjoy it. You`ll never know how long it`ll last.
Welcome in the world of Global Players. They play global, but definately not in your area. Welcome..... to the real world.
Bryan, your posting wasn`t cynical- it was reality.
Best regards,
Jörg