Reverse culture shock...
It had been 12 months since I was home so it did feel a little different at Christmas. A year is not so long I know, but it is as long as I have ever been away. I try to put all the change on Limerick, but its looking more & more likely that Ive changed too!
On my second day home I went to the post office to send some cards & gifts. Somewhat prepared, I had weighed my parcel and it was 500g - parcels under 500g cost a fair bit less to send than those over it. The post office was almost a joy - orderly queues, straightforward transactions, easy greetings. But then the chap at the desk asked me for E8 to send my parcel (rather than the E5 I expected). "But it must only just be over 500g" I reasoned. "Yeah, but it is over" ended the conversation.
And with a bang Im back in computer-says-no territory. Only 3 years ago the idea of haggling terrified me - the notion that transactions would be based on humour and temperament. But standing at that counter I was dumbfounded that someone could answer me without recourse to fairness or common sense. I guess we're aging, Limerick and me, and that thats just the way of things.
On my second day home I went to the post office to send some cards & gifts. Somewhat prepared, I had weighed my parcel and it was 500g - parcels under 500g cost a fair bit less to send than those over it. The post office was almost a joy - orderly queues, straightforward transactions, easy greetings. But then the chap at the desk asked me for E8 to send my parcel (rather than the E5 I expected). "But it must only just be over 500g" I reasoned. "Yeah, but it is over" ended the conversation.
And with a bang Im back in computer-says-no territory. Only 3 years ago the idea of haggling terrified me - the notion that transactions would be based on humour and temperament. But standing at that counter I was dumbfounded that someone could answer me without recourse to fairness or common sense. I guess we're aging, Limerick and me, and that thats just the way of things.
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