Readers, please send your letters. They can be emails, formal letters or handwritten notes. They are edited solely for grammar and spelling. Also, they are sometimes edited for length.
Dear Doctor Love,
I am getting very tired of people who feel it is okay to cut in line in front of others who are waiting to be served. It happens almost every time I try to pay a bill or go to a public place where lines form. I always bite my tongue and say nothing, but last week, when I was first in line, someone cut in front of me to ask a question of the teller. She looked up the answer on her computer, and took care of his needs. This happened twice in one day. Any advice on how to deal with this?
/s/ I’m Next
Dear Next:
Yes. When someone jumps in line, it is best to stay cool. You don’t need to be confrontational or angry. Saying, “Excuse me, but I am next in line,” to the teller should be enough to make your point. It is the teller’s job to keep the service straight, not yours. If someone is dropping the teller her forgotten lunch, no problem. If they are conducting business, this reminds both the jumper and the person assisting the transaction that everyone has been waiting, and it is not polite to assume that one person’s business is more important than the rest. There will likely be others who agree with you, and the teller should send the person back to the end of the line to wait like everyone else.
Dear Doctor Love,
I see more and more people creating internet pages asking for donations for things they want and stuff I consider luxuries. I can understand a funding page for a sick child but I shake my head at someone asking for help to send their kid on vacation or to after school basketball workshops. I work hard for my dollars but I would never ask for money to help me build a new kitchen. Is this the new way to get the things you cannot afford?
/s/ Fund This
Dear Fund:
For an internet based generation, crowd funding is one way to get a potential product started, or an idea out to the public. Crowd funding can send a less fortunate child to a camp that may inspire him to work harder, or allow him to participate in after school activities with good role models and help keep him off the streets. Crowd funding has taken the chicken dinner fund raiser up a notch. Put your money where you think it needs to go and pass on the rest.
