Ballad of the Demo Dolly

I am a Demo Dolly ("We Are Family?" April 30). When Costco opened in August 2007 in South Carolina, the Dollies were told we would have 30-hour weeks and that new hires would only be used as needed. Now with a new supervisor, no one at CDS gets enough hours to pay the mortgage. The myth that the Dollies don't need to work is a bold lie. We are older mature women, most supporting ourselves with no other means of help.

CDS could care less if their Dollies can go to a doctor without insurance, let alone if we can keep a roof over our heads. They make it impossible to get a second job, saying that you can't have set days even if they are the main demo days on the weekend. I couldn't look for another job to help me get food when they have so many on the staff we can't even get 18 hours a week. And if we apply for assistance, we're turned down because we were never promised a set amount of hours.

It's a sad day when a 54-year-old has to live off her 80-year-old mother's income to get by. What am I going to do when she dies and I am alone? And who cares but me? No one cares what happens to the Demo Dollies.

Melanie Abbott

Greenville, S.C.

Unbridled Glee

Ding-dong, the witch is dead!

Sing it high, sing it low,

Goodbye Carole, Goodbye Joe!

Alex Easton-Brown

Lagunitas

Dec Does Dean

What just happened in the Democrat party with the new campaign financing guidelines, announced this morning [June 6], is fantastic and unprecedented by any other party! It shows how a real leader like candidate Obama can influence the world of politics. I am profoundly impressed by this party's policy change of courage and guts. I am a little fearful as to whether it can be accomplished, but the dollar figures of what has been collected from individual voters speak volumes.

Howard Dean said in part, "As we move toward the general election, the Democratic Party has to be the party of ordinary Americans, not Washington lobbyists and special interests. As of this morning, if you're a federal lobbyist, or if you control political action committee donations, we won't be accepting your contribution.

"This is an unprecedented move for a political party to make, one that has sent shock waves through Washington and has turned the debate on clean campaigns upside down. We've unilaterally agreed to shut lobbyists out of the process, and we're relying on people just like you.

"Just imagine what hundreds of thousands of Americans donating $20, $30 or $50 at a time can accomplish together. Imagine the signal that it sends to anyone who looks at John McCain's political machine and the special interest money it needs to fuel every move it makes.

We have a chance to change the way business is done in this country, and we're taking the lead."

Chris Dec

Sebastopol

Hooray for Us!

One of only four California papers in our circulation category to win national awards this year, we are proud to announce that the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies has, for the fifth year in a row, seen fit to esteem the Bohemian for our efforts. (The other three award-winning publications our size are in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Monterey.)

The 2007 Arcadia issue, our second-biggest issue of the year, won a slot in the Special Issues category, while freelance contributor Carey Sweet won in the Food Writing category. This is the second year in a row that we've taken a national for a Special Issue and the third consecutive year that we've placed for Food Writing. Consulting the abacus, it appears we've earned seven national awards since 2004.

And, no, we can't wipe that grin off our faces. Thanks for reading.

The Ed.

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