Scanners

It is obvious that President Reagan has not gone grocery shopping in several years. If he had he would have seen modern laser technology at work. The scanners used at the checkout counters sometimes require that a package be passed over them five or six times. I am concerned that more “sophisticated” uses of lasers (i.e. “Stars Wars’) will encounter similar problems.

When an item is scanned incorrectly in the supermarket the shopper receives that item for free. A package of doughnuts for free is fine; an incoming missile is something entirely different. President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative will never be the “Safeway” and at its best would only be “Lucky.”

ALAN GUTTMAN

Manhattan Beach