DURING a recent visit to my local post office, it was my misfortune to witness some of the most ignorant and impolite behaviour possible.

On arrival, there were already several people queuing, and five minutes before the office was due to open this "queue" had increased substantially to around 20 or so people, the majority of these being old age pensioners.

I use the word "queue" in the broadest sense, as standing three and four abreast hardly constitutes an orderly line.

This small crowd had taken up the entire width of the pavement with potentially dangerous consequences. Parents with schoolchildren and prams were forced to walk around them on to a very busy main road, and not once did anyone apart from myself make an attempt to let these people through.

I very politely pointed out that if they stood in single file the pavement could be used for the purpose it was put there. This comment resulted in a torrent of abuse and whispered comments.

One woman noted my "scruffy" appearance. (Gucci suits are hardly appropriate for my line of work). One man said that I was "probably there to cash my drug money giro." At precisely nine o'clock, the post office door was shaken and the windows banged because the cashiers were not ready to open. Comments such as "Never open on time," etc were heard. On entering the office, the door was left to slam on me while I held it open for several others without even a muttered thankyou.

What annoyed me, was not the ignorant and misinformed comments that these people made about me personally, but the fact they are so quick to condemn the younger generation for the behaviour that they themselves exhibited.

I was brought up to be respectful and considerate to other people, qualities which I still possess after 26 years. At what age exactly can I expect to lose these?

RICHARD WEEKS, Holly Street, Oswaldtwistle.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.