Picture - this is really part of the Main Post Office.
Well, finally I got together a parcel of “stuff” for our daughters birthday. It was more of an ordeal posting the parcel than buying the right amount of stuff to fit in a box of undetermined size (to be determined when I purchase it). You wouldn't believe it. The post office is really old; mid 1800's and believe you me, they haven't changed a thing, not even the process for posting a parcel.
1. Go to the smaller post office to get the smallest possible box (it is on the other side of the waterfront from the main Post Office and down a street). But wait, they have no small ones. They did have one that had been written on so I said I would take that and put paper over the old address. And they still charged me for the used box. Can you spell “rip off”? and “put the money in my pocket”?
2. Come back to the boat and proceed to package the stuff in what ever way I can get it into the box. Put paper on the old address on the box and cover with as much tape as I can spare.
3. Walk back to the main post office (on the opposite of the waterfront to the small Post Office) and then get told, the parcel post is out the door, to the left, up the hill, around the corner, up the drive, ….I kind of lost interest after that and figured I better get walking to get there before they close. It was already 1430 and with my luck they would close at 1445, just as I was walking in.
4. I walked and followed most of the directions and then a security guard took one look at me and knew where I was going (maybe it was the box under the arm that was a giveaway) and directed me. (There are security guards EVERYWHERE here, every store has at least one, if not more. Even the covered walkway under the road has 2-3 at any one time.) So it was up another hill and round a corner and down the end of the building, that was probably built 1 year later than the original post office.
5. Find the right counter. There is a row of about 5-6 seated employees that deal with people collecting parcels and so I get directed to …wait for it… the other counter WITH NOONE IN ATTENDANCE!!!!! Go figure. They have not yet heard of multi tasking. Eventually someone comes out from the door behind the unattended desk. "Can you help me post a parcel?" I ask. No, you have to see the cashier (note: cashier counter is vacant).
6. The cashier usually sits behind a Perspex window. So how was my parcel to fit through the little holes that he needs to get his fresh air? Finally the cashier comes out of the back room and to his seat and proceeds to talk to me throughout the little holes, now that is tough, accent and all. Eventually he realized I wanted to post a parcel and then there was this big sigh of "you really want to post a parcel?" "So forgive me for asking you to do your job" (my thought) seemed to be the underlying attitude.
7. He proceeds to rip off many customs forms, staples them together ( I have posted enough parcels to recognize such) and comes around from his box and hands them to me with a box of well used half sheets of carbon paper.
8. "Fill in with this at the other place" is all I get. I move to another free counter and I proceed to put in a piece of carbon paper between each form. He looks over and, like my Standard One school teacher, says "Very Good work."
9. I fill in the top form (with multiple carbons below) and notice it is slightly different to what I am used to. There is no space to fill in contents and value of each article in the contents so I figure that this is the way they do it here.
10. I hand the forms back and he tells me I missed a piece of carbon inbetween the back pages. He literally throws it back to me and tells me to go to other counter.
11. I fill in the missed page and realize that the forms are not all the same. They do not line up when you put the carbon in. I see a section for detailing contents on forms 2, 3 4 and ask if I need to fill them in. 3 of the 5 forms are the same form. I ask him for the carbon papers again, I get them and he tells me yet again to go away to another counter (don't know why, there is NOONE in my line, everyone is there to collect a parcel, not send one.)
11. I finally get all the forms completed and he takes them and the box away. He gives me the completed last form and plays with his computer, he places a printed bar code on it and takes the rest of the forms and puts it in the "Island Filing System" that they have (i.e. between the really old computer and the stapler). I ask if he is gong to place one copy on the parcel and I get the reply "It is all OK, I marked as gift so no need". I try to relay that the receiving country will need a declaration attached to the parcel but all I get is OK!!! He obviously didn't do too well in english class (it is and official language here).
Well , good luck to Karma in getting the parcel!!! Thank goodness she got her real present by way of a bank transfer.