CENT FOIS SUR LE METIER : LE GUICHET

They settle in for the morning to obtain it; some are quiet, some bored, some irritated. They pace the corridor, searching in vain for the counter, or to pass the time; they sit, stand up, wait in queues, ask questions and chatter. The employees also bustle about. They open and shut drawers handle files, tap at keyboards, change screens, come and go sign, smile or get annoyed. Between them is the counter, the crux of the relationship between the petitioning public and the officials. It is both the place where business is transacted and also a frontier, a demarcation line that protects the staff, for only they can cross it. Within this rigid framework the flesh and blood inhabitants on a town communicate or fail to communicate and negotiate for their means of survival.