Online shopping helps those who are short of time

Readers discuss the merits of online shopping in the UAE. Other topics: Blue Monday, Fog driving and desert clean-up.

Readers discuss the merits of online shopping over conventional purchasing. Photo: Jason Alden / Bloomberg

Some of those who have responded to your story, Online shopping in the UAE: Groceries at the click of a button (December 26), say it encourages people to be lazy.

It’s not laziness – it’s convenience. I have three children, I work and I run a charity. My husband is usually away so buying my groceries online saves me time.

I don’t think it encourages laziness but rather helps people save time.

Rashelle Leahy, Dubai

In the case of groceries, there are limitations to what can be done online.

I think that it involves more than price, because customers also look for the hygiene, quality and freshness of the food they’re buying. Can anyone know the expiry date of a bottle of jam they buy online?

Lijo Punnolil, Abu Dhabi

Ideally they should show an image of the front and back labels of each item so we can check the content, nutritional value, origin, expiry date etc.

I purchased a cosmetic item only to discover one of its ingredient aggravated my allergies.

Name withheld by request

Online shopping is good for the elderly but the rest of us should shop in person. It’s better for the community and for our health.

Name withheld by request

Is there a Blue Monday here?

Justin Thomas' column, With moderation, we can beat the gloom of Blue Monday (December 28), identifies January 19 as 2015's most depressing day, because of a combination of weather and post-Christmas financial strain.

Given how weather and holidays work in the UAE, Blue Monday for the rest of the world is probably the happiest day for us here.

Sohan Dsouza, Dubai

I think that people who live from one high to another, who are always looking forward to the weekend and disliking their work, who constantly shop for new clothes, going to parties and having the newest computer gadgets are artificially keeping themselves in an adrenalin-induced state of excitement.

And then when the party is over and the things they bought don’t look so good as they had in the shop window, people get jittery and their minds go into a negative spin – and the only way to get out of that is to once again buy something.

How we can stop that cycle? We can do it by changing our minds towards learning and art, by realising that only genuine things can make us happy, not attachments and possessions.

Christmas is a lovely time but has become a huge commercial nightmare for parents and families, who try to keep up with their children’s advertising-driven demands.

To learn how to live again and value the things that matter, we must stop wanting more.

Happiness is a state of mind, not the latest phone, Barbie doll or car.

Brigitte von Bulow, Abu Dhabi

It’s nothing to do with Christmas. In fact it’s the rest that’s the problem.

Get rid of scourges like war and hunger, and happiness will return.

Jen Bishop, Abu Dhabi

Fog is worsened by bad driving

I distinctly remember the Fog Tuesday incident recounted in your story, Motorists urged to stay safe amid potential fog and rain (December 25).

It was very foggy and because not all cars here have fog lights, people were driving with hazard lights on.

This, along with some drivers’ lack of sense about driving, contributed to this incident where cars just piled in on top of one another.

Carmen Neary, Dubai

Last week there was one driver weaving and occupying two lanes as she was busy with her mobile. And this was on the E11 going towards Abu Dhabi, with most cars going at 140kph.

What happened to the cameras and the police who are supposed to stop this kind of dangerous driving?

Mj Uy, Dubai

Liwa: ‘More rubbish than sand’

It was good to hear about the 98 tonnes of rubbish collected by volunteers as part of the Clean Up UAE campaign.

I recently spent two days in Liwa and enjoyed it very much but it was very sad to see waste everywhere: bottles, cans and plastic.

Even next to the Liwa Hotel, where it’s possible to have a fun with quad bikes rented from the hotel, there almost seemed to be more rubbish than sand.

The management of hotels and tourism companies should become more involved and find ways to clean the environment.

Olgun Deveci, Abu Dhabi