HELOISE: Sampling produce is touchy adventure

Dear Readers: Shopping for food can be an adventure! Have you ever seen someone “testing” or sampling fruit or vegetables? Hmm - is this ok? Safe?

We asked several managers of supermarket retailers here in San Antonio, and they each said that while this practice is not sanitary (it is a “touchy” situation), they want to avoid confrontation with the customer. They said they would politely ask the customer if he or she needed assistance in picking fresh produce. “Let-tuce” know what you think of this issue! Eating food that you have not paid for could be considered stealing by some.

Heloise

Dear Heloise: If you have an old shower curtain, don’t toss it out. Instead, use it for lining the trunk of a car when:

Picking up sod, potted plants or trees.

Transporting recycling, trash or lawn refuse to the dump.

Taking paint, batteries and other sensitive items for specialized disposal.

Bringing home produce from a farmers market, such as flats of berries.

Nan from Florida

Dear Heloise: I buy microfiber cloths at a discount store. The cloths can be used for a long time and don’t require the use of any liquid. They also can be used for any cleanup job around the house.

I keep one in the car in a plastic bag and one on the bedside table. They are good for cleaning computer and TV screens.

If the cloths get dirty, all you have to do is hand-wash, rinse and air-dry. I use them all the time, and I am on fixed income.

Gayle, Princeton, W.Va.

You just told my secret! I wish I had invented these wonders! They are my multipurpose tool - no chemicals, no liquid necessary (but damp they work super), easy to carry and clean.

Heloise

Dear Heloise: I enjoy reading your column in the Texarkana (Texas) Gazette. Our summer holds many trips to the beach, staying in cottages or beach houses that offer weekly housekeeping.

With young children coming in from the heat to take naps, sand filling the beds became the norm, no matter how hard I tried to avoid it - until this: I pack extra king-size fitted sheets to place on the beds over our bedspreads after our morning tidying up. The beds can be sat and napped on during the day, and in the evening, the fitted sheets can be carefully removed and shaken out for the next day, leaving us to sleep sand-free.

Tamara Beam, Tyler, Texas

Dear Heloise: I would like to sound off about sales receipts that are printed on smooth, shiny paper where the printed information begins to fade and disappear within a short period of time. This is very inconvenient to those of us who must keep these receipts as records for tax, insurance, warranty, credit-card and other purposes.

Mary in Pa.

King Features Syndicate