dear philpost, can i borrow a pen please?

i was excited about sending some postcards and a small package to some relatives abroad, but i almost wasn't able to send them simply because i had no pen.

you see, the lady attending to me handed me some forms i needed to fill out so i can send the package via ems. but i didn't have a pen with me, because it was friday and i decided i'd bring a really small bag to work, as a break from my usually heavy bag that carries my kikay kit, notebook, and yes, pens.

for some reason, i expected that there'd be pens readily available in your quezon city hall branch where we went that morning. you know, like how they have it in banks for those who needed to fill out deposit or payment forms. alas, there was none.

and so i asked the lady in the window, "pwede pong humiram ng ballpen?"

to which she replied, much to my surprise and disappointment, "ginagamit ko e." to add insult to the injury, she actually had the nerve to add, "may binebenta ko dito, sampung piso."

ayun naman pala. may raket pala si ate! at ang mahal ng patong ha, halos doble?! anyways, since i really wanted to send the package already and we were rushing to get to work, i grudgingly bought a pen, filled out the forms, and submitted those to her.

as i was finishing up with the transaction, another customer arrived and it turns she too needed to fill out a form and she had no pen with her. matigas talaga si ateng rumaraket at ayaw ding pahiramin yung bagong dating! pissed, and because i didn't want anybody else to fall victim to the raket, i told the lady she can just borrow my pen as i was done already anyway.

philpost, please do something about this. i know it sounds shallow for me to be ranting about a pen, but is it so hard to provide one to your customers? your staff should even be happy that people are still sending snail mail at a time when we could easily access our loved ones thru email or facebook, and there are also a lot of options for people who wish to send a package abroad; kaya sana naman wag na nilang gawing raket yung iilan na nagpapadala pa ng sulat o package thru philpost.

ktnxbye.