In your editorial of September 1, 2008 you said: "the moment someone is placed behind a counter, he or she begins to put on airs and graces", which is perfectly true at least about such men and women in the public service. Today. give him or her a telephone and it is like "aspayata an dunnawage" like  giving horns to a horse!

This often happens if the person behind the counter is the receptionist/secretary/personal assistant/or the private secretary of a staff officer. He /she will want to know the name of the caller, the reason, from where and having asked all that tripe would say "sorry the boss is not at the desk".Several times I got so annoyed that I asked whether he/she wants to know my age and whether I am married or not, and how many children I have. Anyway one is at their mercy when he need an urgent connection.

Unless one gives the information, he or she will not put the call through. It may be a matter of life and death, but the receptionist is god!

In the good old days we were told that the person who answers the call should identify who he is.That doyen of the civil service, DBIP Siriwardena, used to answer the call personally and say "Siriwardena speaking " most politely. For the caller it means money. So can the Ministry of Public Administration give some guidelines on answering the telephone, including being courteous to the caller?.