Post Office

Holy Christ am I ever in love with this particular post office.
I’m an expansive kind of guy. I like people; they’re lovely things, generally speaking. They are interesting, and fun, and intelligent and all that other wonderful stuff. However, there’s nothing like coming face to face with the most boring person in the world to inspire a kind of existential crisis within you that causes you to long for the sweet embrace of hermit-​tude, forsaking all human contact. Thing is, there is a most boring person in the world in EVERY post office I’ve ever entered. They must have a cloning facility out the back. It’s terrifying.
Thankfully, the Post Office has recognised this problem and taken steps to ensure you never have to speak to a real person face to face ever again, if that should take your fancy. They have machines to weigh and print off postage for your packages and letters, and wonderful drop boxes at the back of the branch to place them in. Ladies and gentleman, the Post Office has taken us another step into the future, bringing us ever closer to that society of misanthropic agoraphobics, incapable of human interaction. Ahhh, such a utopia.

This is an exceptionally well-​run Post Office. For all those people who recall the old central office in The Hayes (eons ago when there was no such thing as St. David’s 2), then you may have been put off ever going into town again to sort your post out.
Fear not. Things have changed. Obviously even the most dull-​witted of Post Office employees could have seen that it was needed. So now we have a new, spacious, clean, bustling, efficient branch slap bang in the middle of the city. What more could we ask for.
What makes this Post Office different is an ingenious new system by which you take a ticket and a number when you arrive (helped by the lovely ladies who welcome you through the door), then await your turn in comfort. No queueing = far more civilised.
But wait there’s more. If you just need to post something off, you can avoid tickets and numbers and comfy waiting all together, and use one of the self-​automated machines that uses its brain to make sure everything is right and correct before you pop your package in the slot.
Although this branch is usually busy, it’s a well-​oiled machine.

I love the Royal Mail. One of my friends sent me a postcard one day from Cornwall, and it was through my letterbox at 8am the next morning. Now, I realise that we can do things a lot faster than that now that we have emails and texts (I promise I realise that) but I do love getting letters and postcards. Also, my postman at home is lovely and friendly. This post office is a far cry from our local one though. It is always rammed full of people and there is a ticket system in place for queueing (which a lot of people still don’t seem to realise so there’s always a lot of confusion — make sure you check with the person standing at the little desk when you go in). There’s a good number of servers, though, so the line doesn’t normally move too slowly. The best thing about this place is that there are other servers who can sell you things like stamps and envelopes speedily, then you can post your letter off with no trouble. You only need queue for weighing and things. There is a good range of stock in here too — everything you’ll need to send something. My only tiny gripe is that I wish they had pens in there because I forgot my pen yesterday and had to thief one off a server’s desk.

What a great post office in a central location. I have passed it a few times but today was the first time I actually went inside. It’s really spacious, clean and bright. Although there was a queue, it diminished quickly as there were lots of people serving. The man who served me was very friendly and helpful. I’ll definitely use this post office again the next time I’m in the city.