Sir, – Frustrated at being unable to avail of laundrette services while in a tourist town, Sinead De Búrca is understandably annoyed by the business restricting its remit to “locals only” while other shops happily take her money (Letters, August 1st). They are of course different people in very different trades. In any negotiation, though, it’s always instructive to try to see the other persons point of view. Towns like that have many seasonal businesses which either employ more people or extend opening hours in the summer, or in some cases just close for the winter. The more functional or quotidian trades are often set up to cater for the year-round population which may be only a quarter of the summer peak. Such heightened demand is impossible to cope with if the building and amount of machinery are the “right size” for the off-season. In summer, laundry businesses are often unpleasantly hot and it is a difficult area to staff therefore. The operators need to keep their regular customers coming though, or they will go elsewhere, or find other solutions. The correspondent may find then that, in this, like in many situations in life, if asked if you are local, the most prudent strategy is to answer in the affirmative. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN O’BRIEN,
Kinsale,
Co Cork.