'She discovered the poor woman had kept all her money underneath the mat in her hallway.'

'She discovered the poor woman had kept all her money underneath the mat in her hallway.'

Tom remembers his post office and some of the encounters with the customers.

Tom Sutton

Trinity College Dublin

1957

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Tom Sutton

Work and Employment

Life Story

Glengormley, Co. Antrim

1950s

The post office in Glengormley was a very busy place. Staff had to be fast and accustomed to handling cash, yet still finding time to listen to customers' queries and to be especially tolerant with ageing pensioners.A balance sheet was prepared at the end of each week and of course it was all smiles if it worked out accurately - a weekend headache if it was over but even more so if it was a shortage. In the latter case, after head office checking if shortage remained, the sub postmaster had to make good the loss.I recall one young lady coming in complaining bitterly to me that her mother hadn't got her pension for six weeks, although the dockets had been taken out of her pension book. I got someone from social services to call with her and quite unbelievably, she discovered the poor woman had kept all her money underneath the mat in her hallway and worse still, her daughter didn't often call with her.I must say I was blessed with a wonderful staff - caring, courteous and correct to all the customers, especially the most vulnerable.

Irish Research Council for Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (IRCHSS)

Dr Kathleen McTiernan (Trinity College Dublin)

Dr Deirdre O'Donnell (Trinity College Dublin)