Queuing Theory

That's not a picture of the Passport Office, although it is in Peterborough. I arrived the previous evening and then was early to my appointment. I asked if I could go in early. The security man politly laughed. He suggested I come back 15 minutes before my appointment time, which I did. 

"Get into the Queue," the next security man suggested. 

"What Queue?" I asked.

"Behind that lady." 

I was now in a queue of two people, waiting for my 1pm appointment. By the time we were let in, I was at the front of a significant queue. Then for the airport security and the dishing of the deli-counter style raffle ticket. I was quite a high number and I noticed that the system was running late. I suddenly realised that all 50 or so people from my queue had been booked for the same slot as me 13:00-13:30. 

I could see that there were only 2 interview stations open and they both had quite long and earnest sounding stories running.

"You lost it? - where?"

"I can't remember."

"When did you lose it?"

"I can't remember that either."

"Have you some other proof of identity?"

... and so it went on. I thought it would be a miracle if that person was able to get a passport.

My turn at the desk.

"Photos? Form? Old Passport?"

The whole thing took three minutes and I was given piece of paper saying I would receive a new passport by courier within week. Guaranteed.

I was just worried about the Bank Holiday and the various strikes. Then back to the car for a four hour journey home. The Superchargers at Rugby were quite pleasant and I had a tiny picnic at a table on the grass.