Parcel Adventure

Whilst I was still in the low lands at the other side of the sea in the beginning of this month, I ordered two cd singles on eBay. I had some left over money on my pay pal account, it was left over because I had transferred it over there in the summer and I was not missing it now. And so I browsed eBay on Belle & Sebastian items and I found two of their cd singles for quite a cheap price. And seeing as how I already had an address in the UK, I thought: why pay extra to send them to Holland when I can send them to the UK for less? Two cd singles fit through the mailbox right? I trust my future housemates, my cd singles will arrive safely and wait happily for me to come and put them in my discman.
But when I arrived in Manchester I had forgotten all about them. I was being a lousy cd owner, up untill the point where I suddenly remembered. I asked my housemates if they had seen a note in the mail saying a parcel had arrived for me. And yes, they did, but alas they had lost the note.
Now what was I to do? I went to the post office. I had to stand in line between a woman that smelled of living with twenty cats and not showering for forty days, and a woman that kept making strange sounds in her mouth assumingly involving her tong and saliva. But I had to save my cd singles from sitting in their parcel.
Finally it was my turn. I told the woman behind the counter my problem. She told me to go to the sorting office. It was a big building opposite the Sainsbury's in Fallow field. 'You can't miss it'
And so I was on my way again. I got off at the Sainsbury's and looked around, but the Sainsbury's pretty much seemed to be the biggest building around. And nowhere opposite could I find the sorting office. Well, I thought, before I start walking around for hours trying to find this sorting office, I better just ask somebody where it is. I addressed a local looking man, if I could ask him something. He was local alright; he returned my polite request with a look of certain discomfort. I did not wait for an answer; 'I'm looking for the sorting office?' 'It's right over there.' The guy waved his hand in what seemed to be a random direction. I looked, but didn't see the sorting office. 'Oh right' I said, but I was not an inch closer to retrieving my parcel. 'It's just where I'm going actually.'
I followed the guy across the road. I kept my distance though, didn't want to upset the poor guy. A stranger coming up to you in the streets asking you where the sorting office is, it's quite distressing really.
We had been walking for some 50 meters, but there was still no sign of a big building which was supposed to be the sorting office. But wait, there behind those trees. There was a fairly big building, but only one story high though. No way could I have spotted this all the way over from the Sainsbury's.
I went inside. There was just one counter. I waited for my 'guide' to get his parcel and then I approached the counter too. I explained my problem to the guy standing behind it. All the information is on the note, he told me. I told him I didn't have it. 'But we have over a thousand parcels over here.' 'I understand that, but is there no way of finding it?'
He asked me to write down my name and the address. And then he asked at about what date it would have been sent. I gave him all this information. He disappeared into the storage room. I prepared myself to do some waiting; 'We have over a thousand parcels here.'
But the guy returned after about five seconds, I was very surprised; these guys are fast! He was holding my parcel in his hands. I showed him some ID and he handed the parcel over to me. Thank you so much I told him, and I walked out of the door to take my babies home.