Talk about a scoop

I laughed with abandon this morning over Paul Brownfield’s essay (“The Bagel as Metaphor,” Jan. 30).

However, I also consider it to be a serious commentary on all the “scooped out” aspects of our lives. You may have started a new idiom. I am going to use that phrase from now on, giving proper credit, of course. Thank you for giving this ol’ schoolteacher such literary delight!

Elaine S. Wiener

Villa Park

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You are sooo funny! I’ve worked in advertising for some 15 years and have watched many, many execs scoop their bagels out ... which seems to have little effect on their paunches. The correlation to this action being a metaphor for scooped-out lives was as insightful as it was hysterical.

Jennifer Nicolaisen

Santa Monica

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FYI: The stuff you scoop out of the bagel has a wonderful name in Yiddish: It’s called puch (with the “ch” a guttural, as in l’chaim).

John Elfmont

Torrance

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Your scooped-out bagel column this morning was wonderful, even without cream cheese.

Doris N. Finck

Los Angeles