Sir, Father Bryan Storey (letter, June 20) notes with sadness how these days people can hardly wait 30 seconds for the door to be answered before either ringing the bell again or leaving. When I was young, it was usual for a taxi driver to knock on the door to tell you he had arrived. Now, I find that the driver often simply sounds his horn, no matter how late at night.
JAN CLOVIS
Cleethorpes
North East Lincolnshire
From Mr Martin Soley
Sir, As a Barnado’s collector I have 140 houses to visit and if I were to wait up to three minutes for the door to be answered my round could take me ten hours.
Despite faulty doorbells, loud TVs, dogs being locked away by their owners and very few already-filled donation envelopes, I manage to complete the job in less than four hours.
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M. J. SOLEY
Brookman’s Park
Hertfordshire
From Mr Richard Wells
Sir, To ring a doorbell and then wait for 30 seconds would have been regarded in my childhood days as unnecessarily courageous. A good firm ring and then to beat it for nearby cover was all that the peer group required.
RICHARD WELLS
(Chief Constable, South Yorkshire, 1990-98)
Upottery, Devonshire
From Mrs Margaret Shillam
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Sir, I am a senior citizen who has lived in Central London for five years and frequently travel by public transport. During this time I have never had to stand on a London bus, with young people promptly giving me their seat whenever the bus is full.
MARGARET SHILLAM
Marylebone, London