Sir, - Look at all those people walking the streets as they converse, commune, chat, gossip, drawl, palaver and prate with and to their little handfuls of plastic! There is that peculiarly preoccupied pedestrian who mutters, stutters, natters, chatters, growls, howls, whines, whimpers, expounds, expatiates and expostulates into the multi-nippled bosom of his or her tiny telephonic talisman. Jay-walkers mumble, grumble, rant, rave, whinge, stammer and gibber to their miniature unicorn figurines. People stride the pavements chuckling, cackling, sobbing, sighing, sniggering, babbling, gabbling and otherwise speaking while they give their ears to the world-wide whisperings of wireless widgets.
Could there be a more comical milestone to mark our passage into the new millennium? The great pity is that the term "walkie-talkie" was not saved for this droll device. - Yours, etc., Frank Farrell,
Stillorgan, Co Dublin.