Checkout dividers

Sir, – Alison Healy is high-minded when she calls the checkout divider, which separates people's groceries on the conveyer belt in the supermarket, as the "hallmark of a civilised society" (An Irishwoman's Diary, [Irishman's Diary, July 30th).

I am afraid I look at the checkout divider as an obstacle to my objective of getting away with having the person in front of me pay for my shopping.

I have been trying it for years but have failed miserably.

With people like Alison Healy around, who treat the checkout divider with “reverence”, you can get away with nothing. – Yours, etc,

READ SOME MORE

A LEAVY,

Sutton, Dublin 13.

Sir, – I enjoyed Alison Healy’s Irishwoman’s Diary. The checkout staff at the German-owned supermarkets are indeed awesomely efficient. Lidl and Aldi make sure the barcodes on their products are printed on the top, bottom and sides of their products, to aid scanning. – Yours, etc,

CATHERINE MURRAY,

Dublin 14.