May React

React LETTERS ON THE MARCH ISSUE

Getting Ahead Your job-hunting feature arrived in my home just when I needed a new idea in this tough economy (“Your Next Job”). I was a stay-at-home mom for years. Since my husband was laid off last fall, I’ve been trying to reenter my profession, but potential employers tell me I need to upgrade my skills. I liked your idea of volunteer Grocery stores are having a hard time work to gain experience. Sevfinding meat cutters. Homeowners can’t eral weeks ago, an employer find good plumbers. And a friend sold his offered me the chance to job shadow for a day. Afterward, concrete business because he couldn’t I told the manager I wanted to get dependable help. There are jobs out work for her organization and there if people would just do them. that I’d even do the necessary J. M., via Internet training for free. A few days later, the manager called back. I’m now officially employed at spellings. Why can’t people figure a great company. out when to use it’s versus its? I pity J. G., via Internet the poor, overworked apostrophe.

I L L U S T R AT E D B Y I S T V A N B A N Y A I

Grammar Hawks Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson are men after my own heart (The Digest: “Righting Wrong Writing”). I have long been known in our town as the spell-check patrol. I actually keep a marker in my purse to correct mis-

Judy Henrichs, Wymore, Nebraska

I collect misspellings of the word inconvenience. On vacation last summer, I saw a sign at a very nice resort saying the hotel’s souvenir shop would be closed for three

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days: “Apologies for the inconvienance.” And so few people know how to spell hors d’oeuvre that they should probably write appetizer B onnie Home, San Jose, California instead.

>> “I am buying things made in the

Enough Is Enough

>> “Doing more shopping in fewer

For years, I have been pleading with my state’s representatives to demand an accounting of the taxpayer dollars sent to Iraq (Outrageous! “Baghdad Boondoggle”). It never made sense from the start to give billions every month to a country in chaos, with no experienced leadership and no accounting of how each penny would be spent. It is time that Iraq stopped playing us for fools.

trips and cutting back on impulse buying.”

HOW YOU’RE HANDLING THE RECESSION ... THE READER’S DIGEST VERSION U.S.A. to help people keep their jobs.”

B a rbara Sta nl ey, Blairsville, Georgia

>> “We got rid of one car and bought a new furnace.”

>> “I have always been frugal. I just don’t get teased about it anymore.”

>> “I list my home on craigslist.org and rent out rooms to international students.”

>> “We avoid negative media.” >> “Potluck dinners with family and friends.”

American soldiers should not have to put their lives on the line to protect a country that is bleeding us dry. Iraq should use its oil profits to reimburse America. It’s time to bring our men and women home and let Iraq fend for itself. The price of freedom shouldn’t be our soldiers’ lives. C. S., via Internet

Examining Exams I don’t like standardized tests. The Quick Study on them reminded me of an IQ test I took in seventh grade. I was an average student until then. While examining the test booklet, I discovered the answers were tucked inside the test. I cheated but was careful not to answer all the questions correctly. After I got a “near genius” score of 172, teachers treated 10

>> “Perseverance.” >> “We are refinancing our house and consolidating all our bills into one loan.”

>> “Buying less, reusing more.” >> “I don’t listen to the doom and gloom of politicians.”

>> “We learned the art of economizing long ago when we were raising three children on one salary.”

>> “Keeping a positive attitude.” >> “Getting back to the simpler things in life.” Want your opinion heard? Join Our Connection, the Reader’s Digest Reader Panel, and take part in short surveys. Sign up at rdconnection.com and register to win $30,000. readersdigest.com 5/09

me differently; they expected the highest achievement. Soon my grades went from average to superior. I graduated at the top of my class and now have my master’s degree. Teachers claim they don’t treat students according to their perceived level of intelligence, but I often wonder what my school career would have been like if I hadn’t cheated on J o K el l y, Conklin, Michigan that test.

Who’s at Fault? Your feature “7 Dumb Things We Do” states that over 7,000 people die each year from medication errors, many due to doctors’ sloppy handwriting. If the pharmacist can’t read the doctor’s writing, he or she

should call the doctor for clarification. Fault lies with both parties. Dan McF adden, Bridgeport, West Virginia

Editors’ Note In our March issue, we profiled Dr. Eugene Alford, who resumed his career as a surgeon after he was paralyzed in a tractor accident (“His Own Medicine”). Tragically, Dr. Alford’s son Charles, 16, was killed on February 13 in Carlsbad, Texas, when he lost control of the car he was driving. Charles’s mother, Mary, survived the crash with minor injuries. Memorial donations for youth mission trips may be sent to: First Presbyterian Church, 5300 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77004.