To the editor:

I know that this is a tangential issue compared to the more pressing issue of our nation’s economy. But I would like to say that I resent the reporter’s portrayal of me in “How will you spend 600 bucks?” as materialistic, financially shallow and just a little bit dopey.

The way the article is framed, it makes it look like I am just blowing this money on a computer that I don’t need (because there is a Macintosh on my lap, right?). Well here is the reality. I have a girlfriend and daughter. We have been carefully saving for quite some time to get a new computer so they can use the old one referred to in the interview. We would have purchased the computer with or without the government’s money because we feel it is a wise investment for communication and education.

I know that reporters are in a rush to produce stories, but this experience really makes me question the veracity of personal interviews. I will read all other personal interviews I encounter with a more critical eye from now on. I really feel that he contorted his interview with me to give him a token dopey impulsive spender to refer to, and, again, I resent that.

Chris Redford,

Lawrence