However, the opportunity of some good coming out of this tragedy must not be allowed to slip from our grasp.

Sadly our politicians are already using the death of at least 150,000 people to take cheap shots at each other. How sad and shameful. It should be the opportunity to bring people together in a drive to take a global view of our planet.

For example, instead of viewing the people of the afflicted region as potential asylum seekers or cheap labour taking away jobs from this country as they have been portrayed by some politicians in the past, it is an opportunity to see them as fellow human beings.

Despite the disaster we can still help the survivors achieve this with the right sort of leadership from Westminster.

And there is no reason why this should not be done. Look to the USA where George Bush is spearheading his county’s efforts with two former presidents, one a Democrat and the other a Republican.

What our leaders should remember is that this could happen to this country. There is a great rift in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

How would we feel if we desperately needed help only to hear politicians arguing about who could best provide it?

I hope it is not too much to ask that the deaths of so many and the trauma of millions of others can make our senior MPs from all parties grow up and stop acting like a bunch of bairns. — Angry.

While this isn’t ideal for most people, I’ve come to accept it as part of the change in the hope that delivery times will be improved.

So imagine my astonishment when on Saturday my mail was delivered at 7.25 pm.

In the hope that it had may have been my neighbour posting an incorrectly delivered item, I looked out to see what I would call a “temporary postman” struggling to read the addresses with the help of the street lighting. He was only identified as a “postman” by the Royal Mail bag.

Even more to my astonishment was the fact that the “postman” had been seen only a few streets away four hours earlier.

Can Royal Mail explain this fiasco? — R.M., Broughty Ferry, Dundee.

I READ the stories about the state of the postal service in the east of Dundee.

The article ended with the authorities saying the problems were mostly sorted. I beg to differ.

I live in Broughty Ferry and have had a once-a-day delivery for some years, contrary to what the Dundee East office says.

That was fine. At least it was delivered at a reasonable time, usually before lunch.

However, recently we have seen mail being delivered at any time but never in the morning. On Saturday, for instance, it was delivered at 7 pm.

I have also had reason to complain about mail being delayed.

Items were delivered to me on Sunday, October 31. One was a letter written on September 30 inviting me for a job interview on October 12.

Obviously, a job opportunity was lost.

These items were delivered to the wrong address, but I didn’t even receive an explanation or apology.

People I have spoken to in other parts of Dundee have had no problems, so why Dundee East? — Dorothy Thomson.

[A spokesperson has said that Royal Mail apologises to customers for delays in mail deliveries on Saturday.

This was due to high volumes of deliveries which started late and higher than usual levels of sick absence.

This resulted in Royal Mail employing trained agency staff to supplement usual delivery staff.

The spokesperson added, “Regrettably the staff failed to follow procedures and chose to deliver in tandem rather than splitting the delivery as instructed, and this led to further unnecessary delays.

“The staff involved have been advised this practice should cease immediately and all possible steps are being taken to avoid a repeat of this incident”]

Being unemployed, I recently attended a course there and, as a forty-something mother returning to work after several years in the home, I found the skills gained during my time there and the work experience have boosted my confidence.

The course will no doubt help me when I return to employment.

I was far from treated like a child but rather I relished the chance to search for a job in a friendly, relaxed environment. Not all of us have the luxury to own a computer or have the time and peace to search for jobs at home.

Empowerment isn’t about someone finding you a job but having the tools to do it yourself. — Mum Knows Best.