I have a question and an observation.

Has Mr. (P.J.) Patterson invited the Bahamas to join the Caribbean. They are closer geographically then Bermuda.

People wonder why no one is speaking out. Well, because if they do, it will be -- in the words of the Premier -- at their peril. And in the words of the Attorney General, they'll get to the bottom of it (or words to that effect).

The net effect is the same: intimidation.

KEEN OBSERVER Joke's getting old November 5, 1999 Dear Sir, This is suppose to be the year of the elderly -- What a joke! There was supposed to be no land tax for those living in their own homes after 65.

But when you have this Government upgrading the rental value then you pay regardless of being 65 and over. It's still the same home you've lived in for years. All of a sudden, your value is up.

It also seems some pay and some don't. Besides that, insurance, HIP and others have gone way up. No increase in pensions though.

Why do they say this is the year of the elderly. It's far from it. They are only here for a short time. Yes, I would say it was a big joke! DEVONSHIRE Surveyors don't add-up November 5, 1999 Dear Sir, If you think that owning your own property gives you the right to question the intent of strangers strolling through your property, don't share this thought with the surveyors of Jones Waddington.

Their job has apparently given them the impression that they are above common manners, a sort of right of eminent domain, if you will.

Glancing out my kitchen window yesterday I saw two casually dressed men strolling across my garden wall. I went out to question why these men were in my garden and was told, haughtily, that they were land surveyors.

Had I ordered my land to be surveyed, this would have made sense; needless, to say I hadn't ordered a land survey. I told these two men that I thought they should have advised me that they intended to work in my yard.

Their reply was that Belco doesn't. (I beg to differ -- my experience is that Belco employees have always been polite, not to mention in a recognisable uniform plus they don't generally stroll through obscure corners of yards unless it is on the way to the meter.) I left them to finish their work but first told them that they should be taken to task for their rude behaviour and lack of manners. They advised me that they never tell anyone when they will be on their property or they wouldn't get their work done, my reaction to which was that they are obviously rude everywhere they go.

The long and short is that the men set up camp in my yard for hours to measure the adjacent property. Later in the afternoon when I went out to investigate their progress, one of the men apologised for their attitude in the morning.

It might have convinced me to not write this letter if it weren't for the second man, who continued to talk over my conversation with man number one, and whose manner conveyed I was little short of a nuisance, interrupting their work.

Jones Waddington, I think you'd better wake up! Had your men knocked on my door and explained themselves, I would have gladly let them go wherever they needed to.

I might even have offered them refreshment as they worked. This lack of respect of other people's property, this policy that your surveyors have the right to go unannounced in casual unmarked clothing wherever they might want, is wrong.

No one disputes the necessity of land surveys. However, it is time your company realises that we are living in an age where crime is increasing, where women are raped by men climbing through windows, where people keep their doors locked when they never did before.

A woman alone in a house would have to be either a fool or supremely trusting to find two strange men on her property and not question it. To allow your men to continue to conduct themselves as the two men on my property did is a disgrace and you should be embarrassed indeed.

VIVIAN SMATT Hotel workers' hardships Dear Sir, I am sick and tired of people critising the Bermudians who work in the hotels.

These people should be given a lot of praise because this is one field of employment that is the hardest to work in. There are so many problems in the workplace.

When you finish work you feel so drained and stressed out. There is so much pressure being put on the Bermudian worker and that is why you hardly see any Bermudians doing hotel work.

A lot of these managers' who come here to take over the hotels have no sort of idea how to treat people, and that is why you are having so much trouble in some of the hotels.

They come here and try to push everyone around with that iron-fist tactic.

Everyone sits out there and complains, but it's time for us to do something about it. You will not get any Bermudians working in the hotels or restaurants under these sort of problems.

To me, it seems that they are putting pressure on the Bermudian worker so they can jump up and quit their job, so they can bring in overseas workers. I remember years ago you could never hire a foreigner to do bartendering, but its happening now.

You look around and you see more and more foreigners coming in, and you all wonder why we hotel workers have an attitude. You all don't know what we go through day after day.

The Bermudians who are still here are here because we enjoy working here and like to serve the guests. It's not an easy job. We take too much abuse from management and guests.

That saying about "the guest is always right'', has got to be changed. When you have to stand around and allow guests to curse you and you can't say anything in defending yourself. Working in the hotel is a mental stress on all of the workers.

You may be asking, why stay and work under this type of stress? Well it's hard to walk away from something you enjoy doing and care about. So you folks ease up in bringing down we hotel workers, because we are in a battle of survival.

We are trying our best to be the best, but we are not going to make it with all this criticising. So be patient and find out about both sides of the coin before you criticise hotel workers.

STRESSED OUT HOTEL WORKER Time to be Christian Dear Sir, As Christians we are to live good and truthful lives, helping to spread the word of God.

But when I look around there are so many of you Christians who are only out for your personal gain. We are here to help one another, and not to discourage one another.

Some of us have houses, money, cars and all sorts of things, and we are still out there trying to get more. It's all right to have these things, but in the Bible it states that we should give up all our riches on Earth and we will find heavenly riches in our Father's kingdom.

Also, too many of us are so afraid to lift a finger to help someone who may be down on their luck. I've seen some of you turn up your lip when you see someone who may be down. Instead of you all trying to find out what's wrong with that person, you get with your friends and criticise that person and when you may see a brother or sister who may have fallen and lost their way, you don't even try to help that person.

Some of you give up on that person and some of you go as far as not speaking to that person because he or she has fallen. You see, too many of you Christian folk have your heads stuck up in the clouds too many times.

It's time for us to get out there and be full-time Christians and stop being part-time Christians. Some of us see things happen and we don't do anything about it. That is no way for a Christian to act.

During the week some of us are so busy out there worrying about who is the best dressed person, we must keep up with the latest styles, because our friends are doing it.

A lot of you are out there not taking care of your family life. You husbands are not taking care of your wives, and you wives are not taking care of your husbands.

And our kids are not being taught the right things. I see too many of us being divorced or being separated for so many simple reasons.

In a marriage you must listen to each other, and not to your friends or family members, and that's one of our biggest problems.

Listening to gossip -- gossip is a dangerous thing, and many of us let gossip from others help us to make up our minds. The word of God tells us to "let no man take apart, what God has put together''.

Sometimes we get so caught up with what our friends tell us to do, we forget about the vows we took in marriage and also the teachings of the Bible.

Christians, don't think I am trying to bring you down or anything like that. I am just trying to get some folk back on track. I must say we all must come together and start living like true Christians, helping each other. No more of being part-time Christians, but from now on we can be full-time Christians and give God the praise.

FULL TIME CHRISTIAN IN GOD'S EYES New Year service Dear Sir, The millennial New Year celebration will undoubtedly be the biggest party event in Bermudian history.

To help the public and to reduce the risk of drunk driving, many other jurisdictions -- such as Paris and many US cities -- have chosen to offer free public transportation with extended hours through the New Year weekend.

I hope the Government will consider running free bus and ferry service for later hours as a gesture of public service, and to compensate for the manpower shortages of the Bermuda Police.

STEPHEN DAVIDSON WARWICK