I found your article "Dismal October for Retailers Bodes Poorly for Holidays" (Nov. 7) very interesting.

I recently tried to shop at both the Sears and Penney's stores at the Ross Park Mall. I had armfuls of clothing I wanted to buy, but returned them to their racks and left the mall. The reason? Once I finally found one of the few checkout areas, there were either no cashiers to take my money, or they were too busy chatting with co-workers.

I haven't had this problem with Wal-Mart.

I realize that the economy is the driving force behind the lagging sales. But, the lack of sales help in these stores doesn't make potential customers want to flock in to the malls to spend their hard-earned money.

PATRICIA A. WAY
McCandless

After reading the article "Baldwin Couple Manages to Save Home From Foreclosure"(Nov. 4), either you do not have the correct information or you're not providing it.

First of all, when you take out an adjustable mortgage, you must sign disclosures explaining the increase. This in no way is the mortgage company's fault.

The truth is that they overextended themselves along the way. Their rate went up as planned, and now they blame the mortgage company. I don't feel sorry for these people in the least, and anyone who made donations were either fools or deceived by the media.

Shame on them if they overspent. On top of it, they're looking to responsible people to bail them out.

JULIAN R. BELSH
McCandless