The counter window can make a simple question feel like an appeal.

Physical arrangements decide the tone of an exchange before anyone speaks. A glass screen, a raised counter, a queue behind you, and a person seated on the other side turns asking about a form into something closer to petitioning, however kind the staff are. People then apologise for asking, or do not ask at all, which is expensive for everybody.

If you work behind such a window, do something small to level it: stand up, come round, say the person’s name. And if you are the one asking, remember that the discomfort is coming from the furniture rather than from any lack of standing on your part.