I attended the XL tennis tournament recently at Coral Beach and I was shocked to be asked to park in a certain place. Apparently the best spaces were saved for VIP people.

When I got to the gate I was absolutely appalled when they asked for my ticket before letting me in. They just outright asked me to prove that I paid my $35.

I'm a Bermudian you know! I have rights! During the excitement of the game I found that I had to go to the bathroom.

You can imagine how upset I was to find out I had to use the Portaloo.

Apparently the inside bathrooms were reserved for club members and other invited guests.

Then when I went back to take my place I was asked yet again to show my ticket, presumably to prove that I hadn't gate crashed. In fact I was horrified to discover that every single person coming in was treated exactly the same.

The problem is, as a white person, I'm unable to cry foul and turn this into a race issue. I have had to accept the fact that, since I'm not a Club member, or an invited VIP -- that I'm just a normal member of the public and was treated as such. Can anyone suggest who I can unreasonably complain to or blame for this? MILKY BAR KID Paget Thank you, Sande French April 26, 2001 Dear Sir, Thank you, Sande French. It took a visitor to highlight how needlessly and unjustifiably over-sensitive some Bermudians can be, presumably for their own agenda, thereby undermining what by all accounts was a perfectly pleasant occasion.

This timely lesson can be applied, without any great leap of imagination, to the broader picture of Bermuda as a whole.

IAN HILTON Paget Recipe for disaster April 22, 2001 The following was sent to Deputy Governor Tim Gurney and copied to The Royal Gazette : Dear Sir, Many thanks for your letter of April 17 stating that mine of April 3, was forwarded to the FCO in London.

My interview with the two representatives from the FCO on the same day, April 3, was much appreciated. However I now understand that, due to the informality of the discussions, there will be no written record for the further consideration in London. At the discussions my main points were: 1) While the FCO may well be the most efficient department of government in the United Kingdom, not all the wealth of information on constitutional development (e.g. proportional representation) can be found within that department.

2) It would be desirable to have some expertise on proportional representation (e.g. a legal representative from the third party in the UK, which favours it) present at a constitutional conference.

3) At a constitutional conference there would be at least the possibility that both the main Bermuda parties might be persuaded on the merits of proportional representation in their pursuit of "one person, one vote and each vote of equal value''.

4) A sizeable portion of Bermuda's electorate had petitioned for a constitutional conference and Bermudians were still awaiting a formal reply to that request...and are still waiting!! 5) In the absence of a constitutional conference, essential if major constitutional changes are to be effected, there is a distinct possibility of following a recipe for constitutional disaster (see below).

On Monday April 2 at Government House I asked a question at the discussions which was disallowed. I pointed out that a policy of reducing the number of elected representatives together with a continuation of the `first past the post electoral system' was a recipe for constitutional disaster. It could well result in an overwhelming majority in a smaller parliament provided by only a slim majority of the popular vote.

With prior notice in writing the FCO team of three did not comment on my contention. The following day, April 3, at my interview, Mr. Hendry indicated that the FCO does not involve itself in the electoral system (such as proportional representation) by which, in Overseas Territories, the electorate votes.

If so, then there is another compelling reason why a constitutional conference should be held.

In conclusion, as has been said by Sen. Michael Scott, Bermudians want a fairer electoral system.

Bermudians don't want change for the sake of change, but change for the sake of improvement. And this means considering, not ignoring, fairer forms of voting.

The voice of the people must be heard through delegates in the more formal proceedings of a constitutional conference, followed by voting by referendum on matters which lend themselves to that method of making fair decisions.

OWEN H. DARRELL, Pembroke Make driving test harder April 25, 2001 Dear Sir, Having driven on Bermuda's roads for nearly 35 years now, and having dealt with more accidents thereon than I care to count during my 34 years with the Police, I'd like to offer my view as to why the standard of driving is so bad here, and I personally think the answer is in two parts.

Part I is the actual test, which, to anyone coming here with a driving licence from Europe or North America, is (or at least should be!) a piece of cake.

Let's face it: the car test is basically drive up through a zig-zag, reverse back through the same zig-zag, parallel park in five minutes (Five minutes! Can you imagine the foul-up if someone took five minutes to park on Reid Street?), then drive through Hamilton without hitting anything, and that's about it.

The motorcycle test (which I'm glad to see has been toughened up a bit since I did it) is still not much more than "once round the TCD yard without falling off'', and the auxiliary cycle test was non-existent until not that many years ago, despite the fact that some of these cycles have six gears and can reach nearly 100 kph.

To the best of my knowledge, with the exception of Project Ride there is absolutely no formal two-wheel rider training in Bermuda, and I feel that should be looked at.

Part II is complacency. The average Bermudian seems to think that, once he's got his licence, that's it; he knows it all. He doesn't seem to realise that a driving licence only allows him to drive on a public road; it does not automatically make him a good driver. Once he's got his licence, then he should be out learning how to drive. That takes practice, and, if there's nobody around to teach him good habits, he'll be practising bad ones and is liable to suffer accordingly. I believe there is a branch of the UK Institute of Advanced Motorists here (there certainly used to be), and I would seriously encourage all local motorists to make enquiries into IAM, and upgrade their skills on a regular basis.

It's like anything in life. Unless you keep practising, your standards are going to drop. Look at sportsmen. Do you think that people like footballer Shaun Goater, cricketer Albert Steede, sailor Peter Bromby and countless others just happen to be good at what they do? Yes, they do have natural talent, but they've also put in countless hours of practice to get to where they are now, and they'll put in countless more hours to stay there. It's the same with driving. If you do not practise, your standards will slip, and if you don't know what you're doing wrong, how will you know what to practise? DAVIE KERR St. George's Road needs more signs April 25, 2001 Dear Sir, After walking through Parson's Lane the other day, I happened to notice that there were not that many signs on the roadside. Why is this when a teenager some time ago got injured in a bike accident? TCD should understand that there are a lot of places like this one where people are going to injure themselves one day and they might not be so lucky.

K.P.S. SMITH Pembroke Mourning Pitts Bay tree April 27, 2001 Dear Sir, In response to your "Editor's note'' (April 24) with reference to my letter "Explanation on trees,'' may I say the following: On the day the work crew were "pruning'' the poinciana at the Serpentine Road and Pitts Bay Road crossroads, I actually stopped my car and asked the crew what was going on. The tree at this point was still tall and stately and in good shape. The one broken limb had been removed. Imagine my shock when I returned to find the whole tree cut in half! One removed limb would have been fine and the tree would have provided shade and beauty all summer long. Now, I fear, we have more hot open space, and it appears W&E is determined to get this at any cost! The tourists will not come to see this, and there will not be any taxpayers' money to fund all this fanatical madness. Please, can't anyone stop Alex Scott from devastating our trees and roadsides? In mourning, PEGGY COUPER Pembroke Stop the tree cutting April 24, 2001 Dear Sir, I would like to join the throngs of people who are appalled at the seemingly indiscriminate decimation of old and beautiful trees, hedges, and all forms of vegetation that have gone under the knife or, should I say, machete or chainsaw, of those employed by our present Government's Works and Engineering Department.

Their leader, Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott portrayed his callousness, ignorance, and blatant buck-passing in his statement ( Royal Gazette April 18, 2001 Page 2) that: "If you want it done nicely, do it yourself. And if you don't want it to be butchered, do it yourself.'' Is he suggesting that the myriad of Bermuda plant lovers get out there, tools in hand, and do his department's employees' job for them? At the rate they are going, these employees won't have a job any which way you look at it, 'cause there won't be anything left to trim! Alex Scott's whole attitude smacks of a threat. His parting statement in your article confirms this: "Road gangs are cutting a hedge near you'... Da, dum, da, dum, da, dum...Jaws is coming to a beach near you...da, dum, da, dum.

I'm doubtful that even if everyone did go out and trim their own hedges, etc., the W&E people would recognise that it had been done and that they should leave well enough alone.

On reading Mr. Scott's statement in the same article that, "trimming of vegetation on private property was the responsibility of the owner and that Government didn't want to do it so expertly that they ended up forever doing the work of the owners'', I had to guffaw. Expertly? Mr. Scott, in his present position, is tantamount to having someone who doesn't like animals chair the SPCA.

I say return the responsibility for all things green to Ag.

(Agriculture...trees, plants, foliage, cultivation of the soil) & Fish, and leave the road works (all things not green) to Works & Engineering. Mr.

Scott, if you think you deserve to be where you are, and your leader thinks that's where you should be, then take some responsibility and "do it nicely''.

Thank you, Mr. Scott, for this vast open space that I now have in which to vent my frustration.

LIZ LUSHER Pembroke