The Post Office Queue

[louise90]

I've recently written a poem, so thought I'd share it with you all:-

I approach the mile long queue in the Post Office
Waiting, waiting, to be served.
Behind me is a middle-aged man
With green hair and a ring in his nose.
In front is a woman in her twenties
With three young children creating havoc.
Waiting, waiting, to be served.

The three children are running wild
Waiting, waiting, to be served.
Throwing the paper pamphlets
Wherever they happen to be standing.
The old dear in front of the moaning mother
is cursing under her breath,
Waiting, waiting, to bre served.

The queue is slowly, slowly, deminishing,
Waiting, waiting, to ber served.
There's bored faces and happy faces.
Faces of glee when the giro has been cashed.
Faces of anger at the price of a TV license
Or at the price of water and sewerage.
Waiting, waiting, to be served.

The young man behind the counter
Passively passes a look my way and smiles.
After twenty minutes in the queue,
my time in the multi-coloured, age-gapping queue
is complete.

[Dabbit]

Oh very good Louise...I like that

[Mark]

You paint an excellent picture of your experience, Louise - well done! I always get directly behind someone conducting a month or more's worth business it seems.

[sandy]

I have questions. What is a giro that needs cashed and a tv license?Also you pay your sewage and water bills at the post office?

[Mark]

Sandy, if I remember correctly, 'giro' refers to an 'order to pay', in other words, similar to our money order or cashier's check. Unlike an ordinary check (cheque in British English), it can't bounce as it is, like I said, an 'order to pay' from your account to some payee. It's also slang for a 'benefits payment' - for example, in Cockney slang, 'Night Boat to Cairo' might refer to 'giro' - get it? Cairo - Giro? Well, if you don't get it, nobody said it was 'Ham'n'cheesy' (easy) did they?

Yes, British citizens pay for a TV licence that funds BBC, which is commercial-free. As I remember, if you're above a certain age, or don't have a receiver, you don't have to have the licence. And I recall that at a Post Office you can pay certain bills, such as Council tax, etc.