RE: Balentine, Aug. 7 (“All that, without a bag of chips”). Your selfishness is nauseating. You’d prefer others to starve so you can have a cheap sandwich? Disgusting. Your flimsy discussion of buying power conveniently ignores the reality of trying to live on minimum wage. Even at $12 an hour, a 40-hour work week amounts to only $2,080 a month, although most minimum-wage jobs will employ their workers less than 40 hours a week so they won’t have to pay for health insurance. So workers must cover rent, food, utilities, health insurance, child care, diapers, etc., all while working two or more jobs. Heaven forbid if you or your child gets sick and you can’t work for a period of time. Minimum-wage earners are often on the edge of becoming homeless because cash is so tight and many more are just one illness or accident away. I’d like to see you live on that much and see how long you last. Maybe it’s time you value the luxury of eating a takeout sandwich whenever you want a little higher.

Veronica Garrett
Bath