Monday, April 20, 2009

When things go well



It's always pleasant when things go well, as, e.g., they did this morning.

We had to get new passports. Five years ago we stood in a long lineup for an hour. When we made it through the initial intake, we got a number that indicated hundreds of applicants were ahead of us. Intake guy assured us we had a several-hour wait, so we went for coffee. Once we came back, we still had a lengthy wait.

And so, we were not very excited about having to get new passports, expecting it would, again, cost us the better part of the day.

Pleasant surprise. Parking lot guy asked us how long we would be. I told him I had no idea since we were going to the passport office. He said, "I guarantee that you'll be back within 45 minutes." With renewed optimism that this would not cost us the whole day (Monday = "minister's sabbath") we jogged up the escalator to the passport office.

We were back at the car park in 17 minutes. Not bad. Parking lot guy said, "I told you so."