LIANE HANSEN, Host: Time now for your letters. Several of you wrote in about Weekend Edition food commentator Bonny Wolf's essay about the trials and tribulations of dining out. Nick Fryman(ph) of Los Angeles, California, thought Wolf should lighten up. Of course, the bottom line is always good service. But the connection and repartee that I have with my waiter always adds greatly to my dinning experience, and I always want to know my waiter's name. Denver, Colorado, resident Allison Williams Helm(ph) asked, is Bonny married to Andy Rooney? Her commentary about eating at restaurants was so grumpy, why does she eat out? She came across as a 90-year-old curmudgeon. But Ellen Rye(ph) of Trenton, New Jersey, thought the essay was spot on and added her own pet peeve.</s>ELLEN RYE: Why do waiters all over the world no longer say, are you finished? Or, may I take your plate? When did it become the practice to ask, can I get that out of your way? Or, are you still working on that? Good heavens, people, it's my meal. And it is not in my way. And I paid for it, and I'm eating it, and it is supposed to be pleasurable. I am not working on it.</s>LIANE HANSEN, Host: Do you have a bone to pick or a point to make, let us know. Visit our Web site, npr.org, and click on the link that says "Contact Us."
Host Liane Hansen reads letters from listeners about NPR food essayist Bonny Wolf's commentary on her pet restaurant peeves and about NPR's story about an elderly woman who was facing foreclosure.