Dear Sir, Politeness? I have been in Bermuda for several years, during this time I have always made it a point to say Good Morning and Good Afternoon to everyone. Most times I receive a reply, sometimes I don't. In those cases, I would never dream of demanding a response.

Well, today I accidentally said hi to the bank teller instead of Good Afternoon. A man at the teller next to me had the nerve to chastise me for not saying Good Afternoon instead. He further inferred that this type of behaviour must be "crushed'' as it occurs. To that rude man let me just say the reason I so selfishly slipped in your "polite'' custom is that I was in the process of preparing to go home on a serious family emergency. I am sorry if I was a bit preoccupied. I wonder if you would remember to use the exact formalities in the same situation? I presume you are quite proud of yourself having put me in my place. Congratulations. As it was taking all of my energy to make it through the day in the first place, I unfortunately did not have the composure after your little spiel to thank you for showing me the error of my ways.

I realise that proper greetings are important in Bermuda and I agree with the idea wholeheartedly, but might I suggest, that before stepping up on a soapbox or assuming that someone is being disrespectful, please consider what that person's day may have entailed.

DOING MY BEST Paget Concerned at plans November 30, 1999 Dear Sir, I am surprised at the lack of public outcry over the plans to develop the Belmont property in Warwick, and hope that your publication will seek to inform us on their progress.

While masquerading as a tourism development, in fact the Belmont plans seems to be more directed towards building houses for rich foreigners. Newspaper reports suggest that the planned 60 houses may cost upwards of $1 million each -- not within the range of the average Bermudian! In addition, I hope the Government takes the opportunity to encourage the developers to add a small paid parking facility to serve the Belmont ferry wharf. Only by providing such car/ferry combinations can Bermuda hope to ease the increasing traffic burden on the City of Hamilton.

WARWICK NEIGHBOUR