On closed doors and hold buttons
Summer is most definitely here. The indications are manifesting themselves, short sleeves, hot weather and….closed doors at government departments in the afternoon.

Most of us who work a full day through the summer months find it difficult to lend a voice of support to whatever line of argument the unions use to justify the brevity of the government employee’s summer working day.

This is partly because, as we reported in our sister paper on Wednesday, the unions are probably caught between the devil and the deep blue sea on this one and will opt to keep their members happy rather than weigh up what the country needs, or deserves.

But we also find it hard to throw our weight behind the government workers for another reason – the same reason we were not out waving banners and cheering when they were awarded their pay rises and whatever else – and that is, that the service we receive in many departments still leaves much to be desired.

Some members of the public have to deal with government departments only on an occasional basis, and they probably keep those occasions to an absolute minimum, envisaging, with horror, those endless queues and grumpy faces.

But there are others of us who have to liase with these departments on a daily basis, much to our exasperation and despair.

We read about the awarding of Quality Service Charters with bewilderment and amusement, having dealt with people that would make us jump with surprise if they showed any sign of friendliness, charm, efficiency or dynamism.

Do these charters extend to desk manners, the abolition of the perpetual telephone hold button or a move to decrease the number of staff one has to explain one’s query to before being put through to the right person, we wonder.

And as July approaches, and the mercury moves towards 30, we have yet another hurdle placed in front of us – that of having to trace those elusive workers before lunchtime. Which is no mean feat, as we all know, except, it seems, the workers and the unions.

Selling your soul
The local media’s attitude towards the Attard family seems to have changed somewhat since their return from the UK. And rightly so.

The Maltese press was just about the only sector of the media that threw its weight behind the Attards when they were laden with the horrendous decision of whether to allow the separation of their Siamese twin babies.

At this point in time, the UK – its courts and its medical sector - was painted as a big, bad wolf trampling over the will of a couple from an ‘overtly Catholic’ island. It was accused of playing God, while the local press remained sympathetic to the Attard’s cause, portraying the dilemma that the couple found themselves in and questioning the rights that the British authorities had to take the decision to operate on the little girls.

And what did the Maltese media get for its stand? Shabby and second-hand treatment, while selected members of the British press with very fat wallets got everything else – exclusive photos, interviews and proximity to the family.

The local media undoubtedly still has a great deal of sympathy with the couple, what they have been through and how they will face the future. But they deserved better.

And as for the Attard’s comments that they feel like prisoners in their own home. Well, as the Press Club said this week and as many pop stars and actors have found out to their cost, there is a price to pay for selling your story, and part of that price is your privacy.