Down to the female manager in a small local gift shop. I wanted to buy a gift for my friend who had just moved into her new home. I have often shopped there and always found the young staff lovely and happy. I saw the manager standing doing nothing so I walked up to her and said “excuse me” three times. She ignored me so I said “hello are you concentrating?” She gave me a nasty look and said “no”. I had not seen this woman there before. I told her I had chosen a small set of tables and she marched to the back of the shop to find them. I then thought I don’t have to buy from her so I told her to forget it and left the shop. Why do establishments put people like this woman in charge? The young ones put her to shame and I will never shop there again. (contributed)

Down to member for Wagga Daryl Maguire for his thoughtless comments in The Leader on March 19. Not once has anyone related to the Forest Hill School and the crossing debacle ever belittled another school’s efforts to improve their children’s safety when travelling to and from school. Indeed, considering the size of our small school, I believe it has been a courageous effort indeed. But – in one fell swoop – Mr Maguire managed not only to belittle our efforts, but to put the responsibility on parents, who up to now have had the peace of mind knowing their children are getting safely to school. Mr Maguire, I challenge you to back up your statement to Forest Hill parents “that if they are still worried, they probably should be walking their kids to school and teaching them the road rules”. As contributing members of society – it is expected that we will go to work. As a single parent – government demands I work a minimum of 15 hours per week. When – pray tell – do I and countless other parents fulfil these expectations while making sure our children cross safely on a busy road, that up until recently was not a concern. We are expected to have powers more impressive than superman himself in order to achieve the expectations of society and people like yourself. No wonder we are finding it so hard to get ahead and provide a better future for our children. (Contributed)