I have been rather busy of late as you may tell from the fact that I haven’t posted anything for some time, I was rather busy last week organising a forties night for my local car club, perhaps I will have time to post details at a later date, but in the meantime my eye was caught by the story of the ticket office closures.
I do not see the logic in trying to get rid of the ticket office, I rarely use the trains but I have experienced trying to buy a ticket from a machine rather than a ticket office. At the machine my wife and I stare at the machine trying to make sense of the multitude of different options to buy and pay for a ticket and like many before us in the queue, we are eventually assisted by a member of staff to purchase our tickets. In the meantime the queue has become longer with more people like ourselves who are not trained in the skills of the ticket office, how much simpler when one just went to the ticket office and asked for a return to your destination and were offered the option of a cheap day return or some other means of paying slightly less, paid for the dam ticket and buggered off.
Obviously, we have to move with the times, we can’t expect the stationmaster of every London mainline station to be wearing a top hat as a means to recognise him any more but I feel some things are worth preserving and although I was very grateful for the assistance of the member of staff who guided us through the process of purchasing the tickets one has to admit their talents may have been put to better use from the other side of the window of a ticket office.
I am very glad to see that the ticket offices will not be closed and have a piece of advice for the rail companies in the form of a well known adage, never forget….”if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t need fixing.”
About The Diary of a Country Bumpkin
I am a retired actor, although to be honest I only retired because I wasn't getting any work due to losing my agent when I became a full time carer to my mother who had dementia. and the option of becoming an unemployed actor/waiter at my age was ludicrous, especially as my waiting skills are non-existent.
Having said I’m retired, I don’t think there really is such a thing as a retired actor for I am still available for work, I just don’t have an agent or any connections with regards to obtaining any worthwhile work.
I have over the years done student films when there is nothing else available, always low paid (if at all) the only incentive was always the promised copy of the finished film for your show reel which nine times out of ten always failed to materialise.
I spent many years looking after my aged mother and shortly after her death I was lucky enough to run into an ex-girlfriend of many years ago and our romance blossomed once again, resulting in us getting married in 2013.
My move to the countryside inspired me to write The Diary of a Country Bumpkin which tells of my continuing dilemmas in dealing with the rigors of the countryside from the unexpectedly large number of pollens, fungal moulds and hay products waiting to attack the unsuspecting townie.
I enjoy writing, see my play Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori on The Wireless Theatre Company, The Plays Wot I Wrote and The Battle of Barking Creek both available on Amazon.co.uk and am very fond of classic cars so my ideal occupation would be acting in a film I had written set in the 1930s/40s, we live in hopes.
I am delighted to say that since venturing to the countryside where space is not quite the premium it is in town, I have due to the availability of two double garages acquired more classic cars to form a small collection the pride of which are a 1947 Bentley Mk VI and a 2000 Bentley Arnage.
My various blogs and websites are continually evolving and I’m sure that by following the appropriate links you will find something which will edify or amuse.
I have written a number of different books all available on Amazon, so don't be shy should you feel the urge to purchase. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mr-Joe-Wells/e/B06XKWFQHT/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
The Diary of a Country Bumpkin 
It is true that some human interaction is a good thing but in many instances today one derives a lot more satisfaction from a machine than from less than caring humans.
There is a lot of truth in what you say, the slight failing though is the necessity to have an understanding of how the machine works, although the other side of the argument being that a less caring human tends not to work at all. I may be looking through rose tinted glasses but I seem to remember when I was younger and everything was in black and white, people used to take a pride in their work, perhaps that’s an old fashioned way of looking at things but I still try to do my best at anything I attempt.
Again I may be looking through the same rose-tinted glasses as I to find very few take pride in their jobs anymore and that includes big companies.. near enough is good enough… that’s not how I was brought up or how I spent my working life. Ah well things change I guess and you got to take the bad with the good.
You are right in that standards are slipping everywhere but isn’t it a shame that we have to put up with it.
I may be cynical (no, never, not me!) but I can’t help but wonder if it is a vain attempt by the government to persuade a few people to feel kindly towards them and forget all the other bits of society that are going down the drain; assuming, of course, that there are any unblocked drains left!