In response to my last blog post entitled, “A Letter From Sari”, one of my readership (a bright spark who calls himself Singh A. Songasixpence) claimed “it brings to mind the old Don Maclean song ‘Sari Sari Night’!” I was surprised that the possibly more apt title of “Whose Sari Now?” had not been picked up.

Indeed, I was further astonished when I checked the lyrics of the Connie Francis hit (1957) “Who’s Sorry Now?” on Google. In particular, the line, “Who’s sad and blue?” struck a chord because the beautiful sari, now posted, fits that description exactly. And on the subject of postage, that brings me to the lines, “You had your way, Now you must pay”…

I was in the Post Office at the Hyperdome this afternoon – I had cycled over – and the blue sari, along with an accompanying letter (from Sari!) and two sets of blue bracelets – one of  them metal, the other beaded – was tucked into a recycled padded bag. The Indian lady serving me (what a coincidence!) had a bewildered look on her face when I popped the bag on the scales.

“May I keep the pen?”, I asked. “Because it has Australia Post written on it – a keepsake…”

She looked surprised and I guessed that not many people ask if they may keep one. She smiled and nodded. (I guessed she wasn’t supposed to let me keep it.)

“That will be – no it can’t be! – can it? Please to wait a moment, hold on,” the lady checked again and looked in disbelief.

“It’s a sari,” I told her.

She nodded knowingly (nine thousand yards of gossamer material edged with gold and folded neatly into a small bag – it all came back to her).

I began to worry. It has been several years since I sent anything airmail from Australia. I had been guessing the postage would cost around ten dollars.

“Oh dear, oh dear,” the nice lady said to prepare me for a shock, “that will be thirty-nine dollars and seventy-five cents, please. I wonder if you would like to take anything out?”

I thought of the heavy bracelets (total price $5) and I jumped at the opportunity.

“Yes please.”

“You can take it over to the table and fill out this customs form at the same time,” she said kindly as she could see I was suffering from shock.

Unlike England, where there are few dedicated Post Offices left and we have to queue in the backs of newsagent shops for the attention of perhaps one or two harassed and often belligerent members of staff (not in my home town of Dawlish, of course), the Australia Post shop had six or seven assistants and one of these, noticing my pallor, came over to help me.

“Is everything alright?” she asked (probably suspecting the cause of my dismay).

“Can this small package really cost forty dollars to send to England by airmail?” I pleaded.

The woman weighed it in her hand and then on the scales.

“It is just over the limit,” she admitted, “but if you could bring it under five hundred grammes it will be less than half the price to send.”

Back at the counter a third lady staff member, aware of my recent trauma, was “just like a friend, right to the end” and informed me with pleasure that I could re-insert one of the sets of bracelets and still come in under the threshold.

“And you must put in the letter,” she said with concern. Her sweet motherly expression told me that she was sorry to have to charge me anything.

“Thank you so much for all your kindness,” I said before leaving.

“It’s nice comments like that that make my job worthwhile,” she smiled like a happy angel.

So now all is well; the blue sari is on its way, nobody has need to be sorry, I have a red and white Australia Post pen as a memento and (below) you have the lyrics and a bit of extra information about the song, Who’s Sorry Now… if you should happen to be interested.

Who’s Sorry Now?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the Connie Francis album, see Who’s Sorry Now? (album). For the Marie Osmond album, see Who’s Sorry Now (album).

“Who’s Sorry Now?”
Single by Connie Francis
B-side	You Were Only Foolin’ (While I Was Fallin’ In Love)
Released	November 1957
Recorded	October 2, 1957
Genre	Rock ‘n’ Roll
Length	2:16
Label	MGM Records K 12588
Writer(s)	Ted Snyder, Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby
Producer(s)	Harry A. Myerson
Connie Francis singles chronology
“Who’s Sorry Now?” is a popular song with music written by Ted Snyder and lyrics by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. It was published in 1923.[1]

“Who’s Sorry Now?” was featured in the Marx Brothers film A Night in Casablanca (1946), directed by Archie Mayo and released by United Artists.

“Who’s Sorry Now”