General Post Office - DUBAI

Philately used to be a hobby about a deacde ago. If nothing else, "first day covers" were the reason to go to the post office. I never thought this hobby would die such a miserable death after internet, browsing and email take over its simplicity and exclusivity. Electronic medium of postage has its advantages but I always thought these were few and shotrlived. Now, there is no reason to go to the Post Office as everything is available at the touch of a button or click of a mouse. So, today I made the decision of thinking a hundred times before going to the post office again. The reason however, was very non-electronic.

As I entered the post office after donkey years, I realized that the governement of Dubai is feeling the credit crunch the most because no one was being paid to clean the place. Probably they were waiting for everyone to leave before they get someone. There was paper in every shape and form lying on the floor for reasons unknown. Recycling has not been this city's favorite choice for saving the planet.

I took a number from one of the machines which says "Please take a number, and wait for your turn". This one had multiple options but were all taped and only one option was available which had the word "ALL" written on it. I took a number, a lucky "013" and thought of waiting which was of no use because I looked around and there was only one person waiting and there were 6 people on the service desks. I waited for a bit and realized that the numbers are not working and the person waiting is either insane or waiting for the post office to shut down so that she could sleep there. Whatever the reason I went ahead to one of the service representatives.

I: "Hi, I need to send these documents to Pakistan"
She-1: Mute. Looks around as if she has lost her doggie. Hands me a piece of paper to write the addresses and points to a place where I can find a pen. The mute mode continued all through.

I filled out the form and went back, this time there was someone else with She - 1 so I went to She - 2.

I: "Hi, I have filled this out, can I have a big envelope please?"
She - 2: "No, we dont have any"
I: "Ok, but .................... "
She - 2: Looking at me with with her eyes clearley saying "That aint my f!@#% problem"
I: Already had an old, half torn envelope so thought of saving my sanity for a rainy day. "Ok, can I send it in this envelope?"
She - 2: "Yes, sure. Write the address on it". Mute. Points to the same place to find a pen.
I: "Do you have any glue?", I asked.
She - 2: Head down concentrating on something which was obvisouly much more important. "There only".

I did what I had to do to make sure everything was ok. Came back, this time both She -1 and She -2 were busy. They were not busy helping a customer, but busy ignoring my presence. So, I went to She -3.

I: Standing in front of her. She is focussed on the monitor trying to read something which obviously was in a foreign language - english. Ignores me with a permanent hostile face expression which gave me a feeling that she had Botox during PMS. No Hi/Hello this time. "I need to send this to Pakistan"
She - 3: After about 9 seconds takes the envelope from me (still trying to figure out what language is on the screen) weighs it, finds out the amount and looks at me. No word. Mute.
I: To myself, 20.25. I took out a dh 50 bill and a dh 1 coin and gave it to her to get back 30.75 because I did not want 4 extra coins. No word. Mute
She - 3: Takes the 50 and the 1, puts it in the register. Counts. Counts harder. And counts again. After three attempts she takes the calculator and punches:
"50 + 1 =" 51 "- 20.25 = " 30.75
Takes a dh 20 and dh 10 bill and looks at me.
I: Thinking that maybe she wants a tip or something. But realized she does not want to put in the effort to get me the rest of the change.

I: "Dont worry about the .75".

I: walked out, mute.