Doctor's Appointment and Poor Customer Service

Carol had an appointment at Ashfield Medical Centre at 6 o'clock this evening. So it meant our usual routine was disrupted. The idea of having it so late was to hopefully avoid being with other people who were likely to be infectious, and as she's more likely to get infected, due to being on chemotherapy, it was vital to avoid such contact, hence the later appointment time. But on arriving at Ashfield we found the waiting area was busy. She'd had a letter from the surgery asking her to make an appointment as the doctor needed to see her. As it turned out he really wanted an up-date of how the chemotherapy was progressing and gave Carol repeat prescriptions of ,cost of her medications. We could have gone to Cox and Robinson's pharmacy a few doors along from the doctor's surgery, but unfortunately I hadn't remembered to bring my wallet with me, as it contains the exemption card which means Carol doesn't have to pay for her prescriptions. So we had to return home so I could pick up the aforementioned wallet and then drive to the branch of Boots at Kingston to get these items made up. The traffic was quite heavy and we got snarled up at several of the roundabouts along Chaffron Way. We parked easily and then went into Boots and handed over the prescriptions at the pharmacy. We were told it would take at least 30 minutes for the order to be made up, so we wasted time browsing in Marks and Spencer's. I needed the toilet in the store, so we walked through. But for some unfathomable reason the toilet was locked. Also, the café was closed, with chairs up on the table. Carol wanted to buy a strawberry-flavoured milk shake and found what she wanted on the shelves. They do a really nice chocolate milk shake which has pieces of chocolate in it. A real indulgence. But on getting to the checkout there was only one member of staff on duty. A reasonably long queue so we decided to leave the store, putting what we had intended purchasing on the shelving at the rear of the checkout-area. Carol decided she needed paracetamol and ibuprofen so I went to pay and she sat near the pharmacy. The same thing as we had experienced in M and S, just one member of staff on the checkout and they were working exceedingly slowly. Well, what is the point of these stores being opened late if they don't have sufficient staff to operate the tills? Carol pointed out that, in Marks and Spencer's it would have been relatively easy to shoplift, to walk out of the store with several fairly expensive items without paying and, with virtually no staff on duty, no-one to apprehend a thief. Then, why was the toilet locked? Why don't they consider that their customers needs as regards having the toilet functioning fully? 

So we returned to the car and I drove us home, by now the traffic was a good deal easier than it had  been when we'd left home.