DEAR ABBY: Please print this on behalf of all the short, older people who enjoy dining out but who feel dwarfed sitting at tables built to accommodate taller people.
Restaurateurs: Please give us a lift! Those of us who have shrunk with age, are crippled with arthritis or have lost range of motion in our shoulders would certainly appreciate a "boost" in the form of a cushion to allow us to sit higher at your tables -- or a chair that sits higher off the floor. We would have more leverage and could manipulate the cutlery much easier.
As long as there are special areas in restaurants for smokers and non-smokers and accommodations for the disabled, why not be innovative and accommodate us? The older population is increasing by leaps and bounds, infirmities and all, and many of us are tired of feeling that we're sitting in a hole while we eat!
Restaurateurs who heed this cry for help would stand 10 feet tall in the eyes of us little people. -- SHORTY FROM WISCONSIN
DEAR SHORTY: As a person who is 5-feet-nothing, I feel your pain. However, I'm surprised that a pillow or "booster" wasn't available upon request. I'm printing your message for restaurateurs to see -- but a better solution might be to bring your own cushion when you dine out, in case the restaurant owner misses this column.