Hercule Poirot in the Post Office

The village post office, in the TV adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles, might pose something of a mystery to viewers in the United States. For it is there that we find our friend Hercule Poirot, purchasing two bags of his evening cocoa. Actually, the post office sells any number of items, including fresh breads, tinned food, and baking supplies. It seems more like an early American general store than a post office. Yet it is here Captain Hastings bumps into his old Belgian friend, the famous detective, when he pops out of Styles Court to mail a few letters. 

Of course, all this happens amid World War I, when most of the menfolk would be away, fighting in the British Army. Additionally, this is a tiny community, where many of the charities and community functions are orchestrated and sponsored by the great benefactress, Mrs. Emily Ingelthorpe, from her mansion at Styles Court. It's easy to imagine how during this time of scarcity, when labor, food, and fuel are in short supply, any businesses that managed to remain open had to fulfill a number of roles. So perhaps it's not too difficult to imagine an English village Post Office carrying out a number of functions that would normally be handled by specialists shops in larger cities like London.

As Poirot values order, he makes a suggestion as to how the shop might be better organized. Each item could be arranged along the wall of the store (North, South, East, or West) to illustrate the region of the world in which the product originates. Thus the shop would not just supply necessary goods, but educate patrons as well. The Proprietress seems somewhat amused by his idea, but as she tells him, as far as she's concerned, each item comes from the wholesaler, who delivers all the items to her shop. 

Oops. I mean, her Post Office.

On my visits to England, I've popped into a few post offices. While I never saw one that sold food, I had previously learned from various Britcoms about characters who had money stored in the Post Office. So on one visit, I asked the clerk about that, and he told me that anyone could invest money in the Post Office, in a similar manner to opening a savings account in the United States. 

I don't know what the advantages of investing money in a Post Office are over that of an English bank, but I certainly prefer visiting banks in the United States to my local post office. I've never been offered a cup of hot cocoa while the Post Office counter staff weigh my packages and sell me stamps, but bank clerks usually have some kind of treat available. Over the years, they've offered me bags of hot popcorn, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, lollipops, and even packets of candy corn around Halloween. But then, Post Offices in the United States don't seem to get much government funding, and people don't mail letters or collect stamps like they used to. Meanwhile, our banks seem flush with funds, probably as a result of their paying out such measly interest on our checking and savings accounts.

I wonder what suggestions Hercule Poirot might make to improve Post Offices in the United States. I certainly don't expect to bump into him there any time soon. Still, I'll have to keep an eye out for him the next time I visit, perhaps when I bring in the Christmas presents I'm sending to all my far-flung relatives. Sadly, none of them live in Belgium.