QUEUE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 127, 1 June 1939, Page 9

QUEUE DAY.

TAKE YOUR KNITTING!

AUCKLAND EXCELS ITSELF.

TROUBLES OF FORM-FILLERS. Auckiand has excelled itself in the production of bigger and better queues. Throughout the month not a day passed without a queue forming up somewhere. But yesterday they were everywhere. If one walked into a suburban post office to buy a stamp or register something it was necessary to attach oneself to the rear end of a string of people and wait patiently. Wise women took their knitting. Round at the Customs office there was only a little queue, but it showed promise. It was the last day for the payment of dues and there was every sign that as the day advanced those who bad missed this queue would join in. i

Then there was the queue at the sustenance office —a queue with sometimes long and anxious, waiting. It had the distinction, however, of being the only queue where the Government paid out instead of collecting from the public.

The finest series of queues were to be seen at the Town Hall concert chamber and at the Chief Post Office. At the former 40 men laboured to supply Auckland motorists with vivid orange number plates. They did their job well, but even so there were complaints from those who had not yet become "form drunk."

Some people, on having a form thrust at them, accepted it philosophically, filled it in automatically, and looked round for the nearest queue. These were the ones referred to happily by officials as the members of the public who were "co-operating."

But there were others, who did not! co-operate, and the officials were not so happy about these. Most were sufferers from "form paralysis." At the sight of a printed foolscap sheet covered with question marks and long l

strings of dots these "sufferers'" go crazy and fill in anything at all. Then, if their name starts with A they go to a counter marked N—P. Sometimes they argue the point, but more often they start off from scratch again. They juet can"t take it.

Filled In Wrong Forms. Then there were those who carefully filled in the wrong forms and demanded number plates from the gentlemen engaged in collecting fees for driving licenses—for the City Council was in on this field day as well* as the Government. Aucklanders are notorious for leaving the filling in of forms until the last day. Thus by eight o'clock last night, when the doors will be thankfully slammed on the last of the motorists, 2300 had crossed the portals since morning and paid up. There were nine queues at the Chief Post Office, these being the most representative in the city. Social Security has nabbed everybody, and there have lieen some hard words spoken in the spacious airy room on the second floor. The lift has "been working overtime, and !a thoughtful caretaker has provided a>li Itrays for the convenience of those < queueing up for the lift after queiieing, [up at the counter. Arm chairs would a]>o, be acceptable. There was more of it to-day— ■ the last day under the Social Security;

[Act for this fell work to be completed. After that the city can settle down for quiet contemplation of the income tax linarathon. Strictly speaking the laggards shouldn't be allowed to do this, but the (iovernment ran out of forms and there will be another glorious fortnight to wallow in figures.