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Stress and PO queues
• WITH the closing of small post offices, you would think large branches would be fully manned to deal with the additional customers but, no, this isn’t so.
Take, for example, the post office in Junction Road, near Archway Tube station – out of 10 serving positions you are lucky if four are open at any one time. It is possible to queue for up to half an hour.
Monday is a particularly difficult day for the elderly, pregnant women, women with young children and those with varying medical conditions. The staff are courteous enough but each time when I visit there are sighs of exasperation about the snail-like progress of the queue.
Last year, when the queue stretched out into the street there was almost a riot.
One woman who had to risk parking on a yellow line when she couldn’t find a parking place finished up getting a ticket because of the long wait.
Another heavily pregnant woman looked on the point of collapse. Both women give vent to their feelings to such a degree that additional staff suddenly appeared from out of the back office to work behind the counter. For the first time that year all 10 positions were manned.
I don’t wish to blame the staff as I don’t know what additional duties they have besides their counter work. There are notices up warning about swearing and threatening staff members but the patience of the public is liable to snap again any time soon. Of course, this isn’t fair on the staff. Many people would rather confront the senior management responsible for the cutbacks.
WH
(Name and address 7supplied) N19
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