Rural readers rejoice: you can still have subscription vouchers for the Guardian (Letters, 9 August). After several anxious telephone calls, I managed to convince the subscriptions manager that my distant rural newsagent doesn’t have access to a scanner, and that vouchers were the only way that I could continue 50-plus years of Guardian readership. A new booklet turned up within a week.
Susannah J Everington
Marshwood, Dorset
• In a supermarket in Nice, France, last year, one of the checkouts bore the sign “caisse papotages” (small- talk checkout), with a cashier trained to converse with customers (Letters, 6 August). A great boon to the lonely, but not so good for tourists who join this queue with two croissants and a bottle of wine.
Jenny Russell
Tunbridge Wells, Kent
• I enjoyed your article (Forget chess, backgammon teaches the most valuable life lessons: blind luck and wild unfairness, 5 August), but not its reference to “Bletchley Park boys”. By 1945, 75% of the staff at Bletchley Park were women. They operated at all levels and were clearly a vital part of the codebreaking process.
Terry Kingdon
London
• Your AI architecture feature (7 August), reminded me of how a structural engineer described their work to me once: “Architects bring me damn fool designs for buildings, then I make changes that mean they won’t fall down.”
Norman Miller
Brighton
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
