As Sue and I traipsed through bus and train stations on Sunday I noted the demise of service, crumbled under the onslaught of money and efficiency. The bus station was redeveloped to make way for the shopping centre which also took in the front of the train station - so now it's almost impossible to pick up or drop someone off, you have to park in a basement and walk for about 5-7 minutes for the train station, I don't know what the bus equivalent is, I parked in the shopping centre carpark (and had to borrow money off her to pay for it as I forgot I'd need to and didn't take my purse).
Once she eventually purchased her train ticket she decided to visit the toilets - but it's 20p, which she had, but not in the right change. There was no change machine so that was out. Well OK, we thought, how about seeing if the cafe would give her change or she could buy a biscuit or something (she didn't want to go into the pub for this purpose) - no, the cafe was now closed. Right. WH Smith? She wouldn't mind a magazine for the journey... no, WH Smith was also closed. Sigh.
So never mind that it's a public place supposed to be providing a service. Never mind that people might want a comfort stop, a biscuit, a drink or a magazine before they embark on a 3 hour train journey. Let's shut everything down after about 5 on a Sunday. Who cares about all those other people travelling after then? There's not enough of them to make it worth our while! Capitalism at its best.
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