_______________SERVICE WITH AN ARTIFICIAL SMILE BY ROBERT ROSSNEY AND _______________GETTING TO KNOW ALL ABOUT YOU BY JENNIFER VOGEL (10/14/98)
	Glad to see an article that finally illustrates precisely how I feel. I was a big fan of Safeway's coupon book (and I didn't find clipping the little suckers overly labor-intensive). However, "creepy" was exactly the feeling I got the first time a Safeway clerk used my name to thank me for shopping there after I used my ATM card to pay for groceries. I don't mind a "Hi, how are ya?" from the clerks, but a "Thanks for shopping here, Miss Franklin" stepped over the line. I realize it seems polite and innocuous, but do the people behind me in line really need to know my name, too? And that I'm single (and maybe even live alone), especially as I walk out to my car at 11 at night? I just don't think a supermarket needs my phone number so as not to overcharge me on cat litter and deodorant. These days I feel better shopping at local bodegas and Seven-Elevens. At least when they say hello (or ignore me) it's sincere, and safer. -- Deeanna Franklin Silver Spring, Md. Enough with the whining about supermarket clubs. Robert Rossney's indulgent and pointless piece illustrates only his ignorance of his topic. And if you're looking for something sinister and underhand, take a look at how Jennifer Vogel's piece is written. No one forces anyone to accept the bribe. I, for one, am happy to sell Safeway information on my condom brand choices in exchange for a $2 discount. If you don't like it, don't sign up. And if you really don't like it, work to have privacy laws enacted to prevent certain uses of this information. But don't try to imply that supermarkets are engaged in some sort of capitalist conspiracy. -- David Garth San Francisco I've just read the articles by Robert Rossney and Jennifer Vogel. Are these two for real? I can't believe the levels of paranoia they reach over going to the grocery store! Get a grip, people. These store cards are optional. No one is required to show documents to purchase toilet paper. We don't have jackbooted soldiers with guns forcing us to smile and save money with instant coupons. I have a store card that I use because a percentage of each dollar I spend goes toward donations to charitable institutions and cultural programs that I support. These are chosen by me, not by the store. Last year alone, one local not-for-profit theater group received $10,000 in combined donations from this grocery chain. The Red Cross, an animal shelter, Woman's Haven, a wild bird sanctuary-- the choices one can make are endless. Rather than focus on the evil a system like this can do, I would prefer to look at the good. I don't really care if some big computer is making lists of what I purchase. I'd much rather be known for giving a donation to the Humane Society than for keeping my toothpaste brand secret. -- Judith Spencer Fort Worth, Texas You are engaging in the same sort of slimy behavior as the supermarkets who have "clubs." I notice that your Salon merchandise page (why anyone would pay to advertise someone else's company is beyond me, but that's another issue) has prices for "members" and "non-members." Pots, kettles, etc. -- Stephen Read Thank you for Rossney's article, "Service with an artificial smile." He refers to Safeway, but I'm reminded of the feeling I get at WalMart. Here's the problem: Going all out to give customers "what they want" is a flawed idea. Three cheers for those companies that instead seek to inspire customers and give them something they never thought of before! -- Pete Williams When Lucky Stores (a chain in Northern California, and perhaps elsewhere) began using store "club cards," I made sure I didn't include anything valid other than my name or address. When Safeway began using them, I went one step further: a bogus name. (Let 'em try to prove the other guy doesn't exist!) It was a slight surprise when the Safeway clerk (give them credit for great customer service) said, "Thank you, Mr. [Bogus-name-that-she-thought-was-real]." I quickly realized where she was getting the name, so I smiled and went my way. I'm thinking of re-applying for the Lucky Stores card with a different bogus name. Meanwhile, I have yet to receive even one piece of mail with the bogus name I used at Safeway. -- Larry Bickford San Jose, Calif.
_______________"IS THIS DESIRE" -- OR JUST BAD PERFORMANCE ART? BY BILL WYMAN (09/30/98)
	A big thank you for Bill Wyman's review of PJ Harvey's new album, "Is This Desire?" I thought that I was the only one that was turned off by it. I had read various reviews that said it was a "great achievement" and that Polly had given us "the best album of her career." Please! The album sucks -- plain and simple! The songs get stuck in the simplest of tunes and either just fade out or stop without having any impact on the listener. Don't get me wrong, I love the past offerings from Polly Jean (especially "Dance Hall at Louse Point" with John Parrish), but instead of that album being a prophecy of things to come it was just a signpost lost among her past offerings. It seems as though Harvey got lost along the path as well and delivered to her fans an album that is weak, inexcusable and just plain boring. -- David Glen Rice
_______________THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT BY JOYCE MILLMAN (10/12/98)
	If a writer's goal is to cause a change in the reader, to alter forever his perception of the world, then Joyce Millman has forever destroyed my ability to watch "Felicity" and not see Angela. Watching the show tonight proved her imagery was so perfect it scared me. Great work! -- Joe Shepherd
_______________MOVIE CREDITS 101 BY ROBERT GLATZER (10/09/98)
	This article is one of the most informative and interesting I've seen in a long time. Congratulations to Robert Glatzer. -- Ken Shirriff
_______________TYPING FOR NONCONFORMISTS BY ALEX MARSHALL (10/12/98)
	I can't agree with Alex Marshall's opinion of the Dvorak keyboard. As an employee for one of the "Baby Bells" in the U.S., I can speak with some experience. In the late 1970s, AT&T was looking for a mechanized system for Directory Assistance operators -- one that would replace current systems in use at the time, which ranged from paper to microfilm and microfiche. A then-little-known company by the name of CCI based in Rochester, N.Y., won the contract to supply most of this country's Directory Assistance locations with a mechanized database, a VDT and, you guessed it, a Dvorak keyboard. CCI promised better speed and accuracy than the standard Qwerty keyboard. RSI was a non-issue in those days, for obvious reasons. In any case, this was, to my knowledge, the largest installation of Dvorak keyboards ever undertaken, with literally tens of thousands installed in hundreds of locations across the country. About 10 years later, after the breakup of AT&T, the Bells started replacing the CCI system with a traditional PC setup. In every case that I'm aware of, Dvorak keyboards were replaced with traditional Qwerty keyboards. The reasons were simple: The Dvorak did not prove to be any faster than the standard keyboard. And in a business where a tenth of a second can mean literally millions of dollars over the course of a year, if the Dvorak was faster, believe me, it would have been retained. As I mentioned earlier, RSI was a non-issue in the late '70s, but as this system came online, all the Bells have experienced a good number of RSI cases in their Operator Services units, with the Dvorak as well as the Qwerty. I'm sure this is more than you wanted to know, but I believe the installation and subsequent replacement of the Dvorak keyboard in this case disproves anything the Dvorak supporters may be saying. Sorry to burst your bubble. -- Dennis A. Roof Thompson's Station, Tenn. SALON | Oct. 19, 1998

R E C E N T L Y+| MAIL ROOM DISPATCH ...

If you would like to submit a letter to the editor for publication, please e-mail us at salon@salonmagazine.com. Letters sent by fax or "snail mail" are less likely to be accepted. Do not send attachments. Please include your full name and a phone number where you can be reached during business hours, so we can confirm your identity. This information will not be used for any reason other than verification and will not appear on the site. Letters may be edited for clarity and conciseness. Brief letters are more likely to be published. Place the name of the article you are responding to in the subject heading of your e-mail. If you do not wish your letter to be published, please say so in the subject line. For more information on Salon's letters policy, click here.