Where are our workers?

(I know - they are in Ireland and the UK...). But really....

About a year or so ago the Post office opened a little branch just down the road from my flat. It's constantly looking for staff, though when you get a glimpse into the back of the shop, it's full of middle-aged women and piles and piles of mail. I am sure that explains why I got a letter from my Lithuanian bank, dated 19 December, only on 28 January (though generally mail arrives ok). Often the post office goes through phases of being closed for half the day, on Saturday, or for even longer, presumably because they cannot find staff.

I wouldn't say all the staff are competent, though they are certainly helpful. And if they only had the confidence to ask I would tell them that England is in the UK - but that's perhaps a Soviet hang-over, where you would be punished if you make a mistake. The pain of sending a letter by registered mail (apart from the fact that the cost of registration has increased from 2 LT to 7 LT in one go) derives from a combination of lack of keyboard skills, my handwriting, and unusual international names.

The little postwoman I have at the moment I constantly see running along the street - because they carry their mail, and they are not always that strong, I suppose they only go out with as much as they carry and then have to run back for the next lot. A trolley on wheels is not that useful - it might be nicked while they are up some stairs. The poor soul suffers a bit,what with her glasses steaming up in the wrong weather every time she enters a building. I wonder about their working hours, though - how come that when I return from a concert around 9 pm, I find my mailbox full - when it was empty three hours before?