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I went to the post office yesterday to mail a package. Thankfully there was no line although each of the clerks on duty were serving a customer when I arrived. As I waited I couldn't help noticing that one clerk was busy weighing, labeling and otherwise attending to his customer, while the other was obviously gossiping away with a customer she knew. And gossiping. And gossiping.

Finally the other clerk said "next customer please" as he completed his customer's transaction. My transaction involved an overseas shipment with insurance and a customs declaration. It took about five to seven minutes to process all the paper. Meanwhile the other clerk was gossiping away while first one, then another, and then a third customer waited in line.

With my transaction complete, my clerk wished me a "good day" and then said "next customer please." I walked past the people waiting in line as the other clerk continued to process her friend's transaction as a pace far slower than her mouth was moving as she gossipped away.

"What dismal service," I thought; "In the private sector it would be unacceptable. But then again, why should it be tolerated in a quasi-government agency? I wondered how the other clerk felt as he was busy serving customers while she obviously had little regard for her work. And most of all, where was the supervisor of that operation? Who was in charge of making sure customers are served in the best possible manner? Especially in an organization that is experiencing severe competition for its products and services."

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