Nowt ever runs just so does
it……..I ordered a 40th Wedding Anniversary present for Jackie, off the internet
to prove to myself that I am still with it as far as all this technology stuff
goes.
Now being a tight fisted
Yorkshire bloke, when it came to selecting the delivery method, I could not
bring myself to click on the box that said express delivery, I told myself that
there would be people who were more in need of that service and I would never
want to be the one to deprive anyone of a much needed space in the queue. Plus
‘standard delivery’ was free!
So I waited. I checked my
order status on line, and it was on it’s way.
And I waited.
The day before our
anniversary, still waiting, I thought I had better do something about the
situation, it may have been the inner fear of impending doom that caused me to
spring into action.
I ran around town looking at
jewellery with red stones [even very rich Yorkshiremen can’t ‘afford’
real rubies!] and eventually plumped for a nice necklace.
Chuffed, I marched back to
the car. I pulled out of my space in the car park feeling very pleased with
myself, if somewhat miffed that I had now spent far more on a replacement than
I would have done had I chosen the ‘express delivery’ option. As I pulled out
an old gent signalled his intention to pull into my space. I let him in, and in
a spirit of true generosity, I asked if he would like my ticket, as it had
plenty of time left on it.
Leaving the car park, the
phone rang:
“Mick, there is a parcel to
pick up down at the post office, are you still down in Otley?”
“Just leaving the car park”
I replied, “but, no problem, I will park up and collect it.”
It did turn out to be a bit
of a problem as I had just given the last parking space away and had to drive
round and round until one became available. After what seemed an age, one
became available, and it slowly dawned on me that I had compounded the problem
as I now had to buy a ticket with far too much time on it because I did not
have the right change – again!
Now Fridays, being a Market
day in Otley can be a bit busy, so when I got to the Post Office, I had to
queue. I had just started to think that it was a good job I got a long time on
the ticket when it was finally my turn to be served.
“Oh!” said the woman behind
the glass, ”we don’t deal with returned post here, you need to go to the parcel
counter around the corner.”
Bugger! I thought, but OK
round the corner it is, after all this was the present I had been expecting to
be delivered all week.
I told the guy behind the
counter that I had a parcel to pick up and gave him the reference number. He
disappeared for a long time. Eventually he came back carrying a red envelope.
“I am afraid there is £1.50 to pay”
“I am afraid that what you
have in your hand is not what I was expecting.”
“Well”, he said, “I wouldn’t
have called it a parcel.”
I paid the money and took
the envelope.
Back up home at long last,
Jackie told me that the parcel van had just been round and there was something
in the front room. Here was my parcel at last! – Jackie had an extra present
but never mind!
I turned my attention to the
red envelope, It was a card from Alan Didwell, unfortunately, he could not come
to the party……………….
