Am I the only one who gets increasingly infuriated by life’s little annoyances? I bet not. Today was a classic example of how to touch my infuriated buttons. We are desperately hoping that nothing happens to prevent us heading over to NYC in a week’s time to see our lovely daughter S and son-in-law E and adored youngest grandsons E & N. It’s been two years since we’ve seen the guys and have missed them terribly. So we’re doing all that pre-testing malarkey etc. And we decided that today we’d get a lot of laundering done – not everyday clothes but two sets of quilts, mattress toppers, sheets’ and pillow cases etc. And we needed lots of coins. Two duvet washes at £8 and probably 4 drier sessions at £4. About £32 in total and we had a magnificent £1 coin in the kitty. Sigh.
Yesterday on the way back from lunch out, we popped into a local HSBS bank to get some cash. Sorry they said we don’t provide that service any longer but ‘You should go to the Post Office who do do it’. OK, so this morning I toddled off to the PO and having queued up for 20 minutes I made the front of the queue. ‘Can I get some cash from you with my card please?’ I politely asked. ‘Of course, what would you like?’ ‘About £30 in £2 and £1 coins please’ I said. ‘Sorry we don’t issue coins’ the teller said. ‘Eh?…the bank told me you did’. ‘Well they were wrong as usual’. ‘So where do I get coins then?’ ‘Don’t know’ she replied and probably didn’t care. OFFS. I used to like her.
So I thought I’d head off to M&S and buy a few things then ask for some cash back. En route I passed another bank, Lloyds, and popped in. It was completely empty but a young ‘welcoming assistant’ came over to ask me if I needed help. ‘I just need some cash please – do your tellers still offer coins?’ ‘Of course’ she said enthusiastically. ‘Great’. I went to the lady teller and was about to say I needed £30 odd quid’s worth of coins when she stopped me and said ‘Are you a customer sir of LB?’. ‘No but does it matter?’ ‘Oh yes. We can only offer coins to our account customers’. ‘But I’m not looking to withdraw from an account, I just want to swap £30 in notes for the equivalent in coins’. ‘Sorry we can’t do that sir’. ‘But why not?’ I asked. ‘What’s the difference, who will know you’ve given coins to me rather than a customer?’ ‘Well we would’ she said. ‘Yes but what does it matter? I’m not withdrawing money, I’m proposing to give you an amount in notes in exchange for coins. You aren’t losing money, just swapping currency’. ‘I’m sorry sir but we can’t help you’. ‘Look nobody is here, I might be your only walk-up customer today, don’t you think it’d be a nice start to the day to make me feel happy?’ ‘Perhaps you’d like to become a customer of LB first sir?’ she posed. ‘Never gonna happen’ I said as I turned on the balls of my feet as dramatically as possible and pretend stormed off. Sigh.
So into M&S. I bought one insignificant thing, queued up for another 20 minutes behind a rather chunky lady who was in the only lane with a teller and she had like 3 months of food supplies in her over-stuffed trolley. She saw that I had just one item but proceeded even so. Oh thank you once again lovely lady. Lots and lots of cakes I noticed in her trolley. Enjoy getting even hippier. Eventually I got through and paid like £3 for my packet of sage and asked if she could give me some cashback change. ‘Is £15 alright?’ she asked. ‘Of course.’ I then popped across the road to Sainsbury’s for another £10 in coins. On the way back I ducked into Waitrose and secured another £10 after buying a tub of prawn cocktail. I was cashed up at last but what a palaver. It had taken me almost an hour and such hard work. Nobody in the financial sector in Stratford seems to want to serve customers needing coinage even when they tell you they have stocks of it. I mean what is the problem?
I was feeling slightly grieved to be honest. On the way back home I saw not one but two signs outside the old Town Hall which is undergoing some redevelopment. They were inviting people to pop into the art exhibition inside so that’s what I did. An old chap saw me enter and he left his office to ask what I wanted. ‘I just want to know where the art exhibition is please’. ‘Well sorry sir but today’s the set-up day and it won’t be open till tomorrow’. ‘Oh ok, a bit disappointing, but your big signs do say it’s open today’ I said. ‘I don’t think they do’ he replied. ‘They bloody scream it’ I said. ‘I’m sorry sir I think you’re wrong’. I popped by later to take a pic – have a look…
Call me pedantic but I think that says TODAY. Is it me or are some people just frigging obtuse? I’m not sure I can be bothered to pop back tomorrow in case I get told you need to pay a £7 entrance fee and it has to be in cash.
pp
Pasta Paulie 