LITTLE ROCK — DEAR READERS: A recent column about items left in the bottom of a customer’s shopping cart drew a great response! The question: Would you tell the cashier, tell the customer or look the other way?
The majority of you said you would tell the customer about the item, but in a nonaccusatory, friendly way. Most would speak just loudly enough so the checker could hear. Many people thought that the item left behind probably was just an honest oversight. Some said that theft might be a reason customers leave items out of sight of cashiers.
Others said they would inform the cashier after the customer left the check stand. They wanted store security to deal with the issue.
Those who said to ignore the situation were fearful of retaliation. The only time to get involved is if someone is in danger, a reader said.
Several professional cashiers also wrote in and said that they are trained to check the bottom of the basket, and they also employ a “buddy system” to help each other complete transactions.
DEAR HELOISE: I just read a comment in your column praising e-readers for making reading easier for people with vision problems. There also is another advantage: I have severe arthritis in my hands, and the e-reader is so much easier to hold and turn pages on than a print book. It also is easy to travel with and carry.
— Eileen in Maryland
DEAR HELOISE: Placing the lid to a box of computer paper under my cat’s litter box has really helped to contain the amount of loose cat litter that my cat tracks onto the floor. Just remove the litter box and empty the box top into the trash or back into the litter box.
— Debbie in
Huntsville, Ala.
Send a money- or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000; fax to (210) 435-6473; or e-mail
HELOISE@CompuServe.com
Style, Pages 30 on 10/25/2011