Where praise is due, it should be given. On entering the Post Office recently I was immediately shown which line was the correct one for my needs by a courteous gentleman, and, once I was at the counter, service was efficient and was prompt. The same experience awaited me at the Police Station when I urgently needed a Commissioner of Oaths to certify a document.
Where praise is due, it should be given. On entering the Post Office recently I was immediately shown which line was the correct one for my needs by a courteous gentleman, and, once I was at the counter, service was efficient and was prompt. The same experience awaited me at the Police Station when I urgently needed a Commissioner of Oaths to certify a document.
To remove the pain of paying accounts, go to Thembeka or Leigh-Ann at Telkom. Not only is the service superb, but a free smile and, usually, a joke is thrown in.
When I needed to query an electricity account, The Lady at Eskom solved the problem in minutes, while at the Department of Labour one of the women behind the desk gave me a special telephone number to contact if I did not receive the quick response that had been promised.
Try booking a ticket on a train and a delightful young lady, with a mischievous sense of humour, will issue you with tickets and information instantly.
After complaining to Superintendent Zeelie about the rubbish that had accumulated outside of the police barracks in Somerset Street, it took only a day or so before the mess was cleared away. No doubt a few stern words were issued to the policemen who had allowed the litter to pile up.
These are the swings.
Unfortunately, there are roundabouts too and these also need to be mentioned. My wife and I were astonished when a policeman in a marked vehicle parked right at the "spring” to collect water on the Port Alfred Road. Having carried our containers from well beyond the red line, we remonstrated with him for breaking the law. He shrugged off our concern and left his vehicle illegally parked.
On another occasion, I was almost run over by a police vehicle while I was using the zebra crossing outside of Clicks. As far as I could tell, the officer was not chasing hurriedly after a criminal. I was, of course, the only person using the zebra crossing as everybody else was wandering down the street looking most offended when cars legitimately drove down the road!
But the most irritating roundabout of the lot is the filth in the streets. We must compare our town to the worst in the world for allowing citizens to litter the way they do. Added to this, the vagrants who tear open the rubbish bags put out for collection on the pavements make it worse. Is there not a by-law to prohibit this?
Let us try, together, to increase the swings and eliminate the roundabouts.
