Kudos to the nice people!

Dropped by the NLDSB (National Library and Documentation Service Board) to drop off a copy of "Scattered" as obtaining an ISBN number requires me to. Now this being a government office (and we all know the amount of pain one has to endure to get anything done in one) was prepared to vehemently, violently and exquisitely tell several individuals off for abject rudeness, indifference, inefficiency, laziness and a whole load of other qualities that belong in a similar semantic field when we went up a narrow and dark stairway into a range of hot and cobwebby offices. Instead the response indeed surprised my very toenails off and aborted the pre-planned attack strategy in the womb.

First we were greeted by a smiling gentleman seated at a desk piled with files who referred us to another smiling lady who actually got up from her seat and hastened outside the office to get us the letter that we require. Well, not that we wanted it and neither did we know that we are supposed to get one, but they were keen to give us one so we waited. When she found that the book has not yet been entered into the computer system (I guess the government sector still lacks significantly in this department), the aforementioned gentleman bade us take a seat and bustled about to get the letter for us. Within 5 minutes we were approached, apologized for the inconvenience (while inwardly I gaped in surprise) and was told that the letter (that we did not really need) will be mailed to us within the week because they can't access the computer system (note to government- get them better computers and update them often!). In addition to that, he also introduced us to several other facilities offered by the Board to authors to which we also signed up to and through which processes we were pushed through quite easily as well. Me and Father Dearest climbed down the obscure staircase still very stunned by the response. 

Earlier in the day Father Dearest went to the Land Registry and knowing how government offices work (again) I had gone well prepared with my iPod and a good book to read. No sooner than I had stretched myself in the car, plugged on the iPod and opened my book to read, Father Dearest was back. I stared open mouthed. He said that the people were very nice. Well, the government offices had definitely taken a turn for the better. Or was it just the National "Be nice to people" day and we just happened to be lucky? Well, I intend to find out.    

However, the working condition of these long suffering government servants are simply appalling. One ceiling fan blackened wit dust and grime circles quite unwillingly in a large room of about 8-10 desks. It is so very hot and stuffy in these buildings that it is no wonder if it seemed like they are always bad tempered. There is an imminent sense of abandon within the premises, and a miserable loneliness that is so depressing even though these offices are frequented by hundred of people daily. Blood indeed boils within these environments of heat, dust and ample cobwebs and it seems justified if these people do get snappish or churlish once in a while. Not that they have the right to take it out on the people who have traveled many miles in sweltering heat in overflowing buses, crushing their bones, breaking their backs, necks, limbs and torso to get their tasks done.  

Meantime, it does seem like all the nastiest grouchballs and hobgoblins of the government sector had been handpicked for sourness and dumped in the Bank of Ceylon. It seems unless you knew someone of the management, you would not even so much get a sideways glance from these hoity toities. The other day I had the misfortune of walking into the head office without Father Dearest for some purpose or the other to be serially ignored. As I sat aside till he arrived (he is somewhat known amongst the milieu and therefore will not be given the same icy cold treatment) and observed the customers and the self-important specimen behind the counters. Some customers were given freezing instructions and I swear I saw some of them shiver despite themselves. Some got their heads snapped off for filling the wrong application or a somewhat similar offence. Some received a cold glance while others were just dismissed with an absent flick of the wrist. I shuddered and swore to myself never to cross these premises without Father Dearest again. 

Maybe the air conditioning is too cold and their insides as well as their face muscles have frozen, making them incapable of producing any other expression except scowl? Maybe the canteen food is making them constipated, hence making them easily irritable and sulky (In that case, somebody must fire the chef!) These are young ones I'm talking about, 20's, 30's people whose youth had been mummified into eternal frowns and anger. They sit about looking ancient, without even a trace of that joyful, bubbly youthfulness that is characteristic of the younger years. Theirs is a look that is swollen with vanity and pride and I just don't see why.     

Not only BOC, most private institutions are harboring such vindictive souls nowadays. It really does seem that the government offices have ceased to be much of an attraction for these vicious individuals that they have now begun to be drawn towards the private sector. It is in any case, a dog-eat-dog world so I suppose these fiends have indeed found their homes in the private sector. 

Nevertheless, kudos to the gentlemen and the ladies who seem to be gracing the government offices these days. May you be blessed with many good and benevolent moods in the years to come and may your helpful, kind nature serve as a golden example for the more pampered, more privileged yet nasty as shoe polish on a hot dog officials of all sectors, public or private.