Government-Sponsored Fiscal Crisis

Chuck Blahous certainly mounts an impressive case against those who downplay the Social Security crisis (“Social Security Myths,” May 4). As for me, I’m not going to push the panic button until Congressman Barney Frank says that the system is sound.

David O’Malia

Carmel, Ind.

Disregard the Tip Jar

Rob Long — I hear you!

One of the most important decisions I make each day is where I will purchase my midday repast. I take into account the quality of the sandwich and the visages that serve it to me.

Twice a week, I purchase my sandwich at one location and my preferred soda at another location, so that I may be properly satiated, as the sandwich shop does not offer the proper beverage.

Four times out of five each week I confront a jug soliciting tips for the workers. I have not and trust that I will never succumb to this plea!

My tip to the workers who prepare my sandwiches four times a week is that I will be true to them as long as they are true to me.

John T. Hird North Providence, R.I.

It’s the Little Things

I was happily reading your publication for the first time this afternoon, enjoying the insight, the perspectives, and even the advertisements — and looking forward to returning to the library to read the next issue. That is, until you misspelled the name of my hometown on page 46 (“The Long View,” May 4). That’s where I stopped reading.

Edmond, Okla., is where I grew up — and was educated by some of the meanest (read: most exacting and precise) English teachers ever to walk the face of the Earth. I am increasingly disheartened by the lack of basic spelland fact-checking in all manner of publications. It would not pass muster with those ladies.

Edmond is not some backwater with no history; rather, it has a rather gruesome claim to fame: If you will recall, it was the site of one of the earliest postal shootings in the country in the 1980s. On the bright side, we also spawned Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller.

Cynthia Maggard Singleton Lenexa, Kan.

The Editors reply: Our apologies to Edmond, its storied history, and its mean old ladies.