Locked down with my Ukulele 10

These are strange times and if I could have done one thing in hindsight I would have had my eyes tested. And maybe bought shares in internet delivery companies. Things I have ordered have arrived and been on time. In a normal world I would have been sceptical on delivery dates. Now prompt and secure deliveries are my expectation.

I prefer the tactile experience of touching something before I buy it. I’m also completely useless at sending things back. I have to have made a considerable expense to have the motivation to complain. But, every now and then something will rouse the inner injustice.

I used to compile maintenance manuals. As part of the manual I needed schematic drawings. I used to send these to a family member in Ireland. I’d send him my notes, he’d draw them up on CAD, print large scale and send back in cardboard rolls. Often these rolls would arrive with significant dents along its length. The problem was that it cracked the drawings inside. One day there was such a severe dent in the side it split the paper inside. So I phoned to complain. I was told I had to make a statement in writing. So I typed up a response, which annoyed me because I had to put it in the post. In a few days I got a letter saying that they would investigate.

A few days later, I got a very poorly constructed letter from the manager of the sorting office to say he didn’t know how the tube had been damaged because it was busy that day. I did express my dissatisfaction at this response but my objections fell onto empty letter boxes.

It didn’t end there. A friend worked for the post office and I told him of the problems I was having with the tubes being damaged. He informed me that if two postal workers in the post office came across long circular items of post they would engage in light sabre battles. This did not help my sense of injustice. I suspect the manager had a full knowledge of how my parcels were damaged. I thought of getting stronger and stronger packaging. There were two problems with this:

1) This was making what was quite a light package heavy and incurred increased postal cost. So I’m paying considerably more to protect my post from those who were supposed to treating it with care and respect.

2) I suspect that it would have just lead to more robust battles in the sorting office by Luke Postwalker.

The replies did make me feel like they really didn’t care, “sorry sir ain’t that a shame”.

Today my local post men and women are lovely. Post through the post office and private couriers, to date, have been received promptly and intact.

Ain’t That A Shame

It is song 25 in our ukulele club song book. Ain't that a shame, My tears fell like rain, Ain't that a shame, You're the one to blame.

The song starts with a classic intro phrase. You make, Thump, thump! Me cry, Thump, thump! When you said, Thump, thump! Good bye, Ain’t that a shame.

The opening statement hooks you in right from the off.

Written by Fat’s Domino and producer David Bartholomew and released as a single in 1955. Domino had other hits with another Rock and Roll classic Blueberry Hill.

Stay safe.