STORY: The Complaint Book by Carlos Valles

Story title: The Complaint Book
By: Carlos Valles


      We seem to thrive on grievances. The first requirement in any registered establishment is a complain box, clearly visible. Sometimes its title is softened to "suggestion box."
      An Indian missionary tells this story on himself: "One day I was passing through a small out of the way station. There was not a soul around. But a sign in big red letters caught my eye. It proclaimed
an essential message to the non existing public. The words screamed at me: 'Complaint book available.'
      "That tiny station had no bulletin board with timetables or notices. It had no restaurant or even waiting room. It lacked the barest essentials. But there WAS a complaint book. That gave the place some sort of status. Any self respecting railway station must have a complaint book, even if it had nothing else.
     "Then a wicked thought passed my mind. If there were no complaint book, where could I complain that there was no complaint book?"