In MY face

I went to the post office yesterday to make a claim on a letter lost in the post. The item sent was actually a National Express coach ticket for a pal who's coming to visit me in May, hence the urgency.

15 working days have elapsed since I posted it and yet still no signs of it anywhere, so I thought, you know what, I'd better lodge a claim.

Went to Albany Road branch Post Office and told the counter guy what happened.

Actually no. I showed him the proof of postage first, then only explained my case.

The moment he saw the word Malaysia, he gave the most disgusted look I've ever seen.

"Hmph! Malaysia??? This country is known for doing this kind of thing."

I LOOKED AT HIM.

AS IN I. LOOKED. AT. HIM.

What does he mean by "known for" and "this kind of thing"? I've sent so many stuff back home through the post in the past and they've never once failed me, so what's his problem?

Anyway, you know me, I am "known for" being tetchy when it comes to "this kind of thing", so I told him straight.

"Yes sir, thank you for enlightening me. THANK YOU."

I think he sensed my sarcasm, so he quietly turned round and got me a compensation form to fill.

Just as he was handing it to me, he asked what it was that I sent. I said a coach ticket. Again, he launched into a tirade of "this country is known for doing this kind of thing"...

Oh no baby, you shall STOP RIGHT THERE.

I grabbed the form form him, gathered my stuff and said "You know what sir? I've heard enough of this kinda thing for today. But thanks for your help. THANK YOU VERY MUCH INDEED" and left.

Pah! It wasn't so much of what he said that cheesed me off, it was HOW he said it. Fine, we might not have the most efficient postal system / administration in POS MALAYSIA, but that's for us to sort it out. If he had said something like "ooh miss, this has happened a couple of times in the past with some of our other customers, so I'm afraid you might have problems retrieving it" etc, I wouldn't have minded so much.

So, dear post-office counter guy, if you can't think of anything nice to say, just MYOB!