Pushing a shopping cart through the aisles of the Publix supermarket in downtown Fort Lauderdale is hardly a memorable experience. One recent night was different. My shopping companion was a fourth-grader selected with 99 other students from Broward and Miami-Dade schools to participate in the Publix-sponsored ``Kids and Fins,'' held in cooperation with the Miami Dolphins.

All of the students, from low-income households, were treated to an unforgettable evening of fun, food and hula-hoop contests. (Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler was a good sport but a horrendous hula-hooper when asked to perform in front of the cheering crowd).

The night was capped by a shopping spree at Publix. We bumped into Ted Ginn, Devone Bess and Jason Taylor, as well as Bill Faurerbach, the Publix vice president who oversees this inspirational event.

The event is a model of how businesses can collaborate with public schools to bring joy to children and help families in need.

AL CAMARILLO, Haas Professor of Public Service, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.

For a public option

I am a middle-class professional who is going through hard times. I support a strong public option as part of healthcare reform. Access to healthcare should be a right not a privilege.

I have voted Republican and Democrat depending on the issues. However, I will be mad at the Republicans if the healthcare bill is not passed. I promise to make sure I vote Democratic until the day the bill is passed.

EDWIN NEGRON, Davie

Cyclists clog streets

Amen to George Miller's letter about the Nov. 1 article, Bike riders find strength in numbers. I deal with the arrogance of packs of law-breaking cyclists every day on Key Biscayne. They hog all lanes and ride recklessly through red lights. I can't even imagine encountering one of these massive organized rides.

As with any parade, protest, festival or triathalon that impedes the flow of traffic, these large groups of cyclists should be required to obtain a permit for their rides or should be arrested on the spot.

SHERRYL WOODS, Key Biscayne

Comcast acts like monopoly

They say there are no more monopolies. Since Comcast is the only cable company accessible to us, that seems like a monopoly to me. I have eight televisions in my house hooked up to cable.

Now Comcast is taking away my access to all but the first 25 channels unless I agree to pay an additional $1.99 a month -- per TV -- for a digital box. It gave us the first three boxes free, but wants to charge us for additional boxes to access the higher channels.

Yet it isn't giving me a discount for taking away the services I agreed to receive when I opened my Comcast account. I don't understand why the FCC, the media and community-awareness groups have not done anything about this. It is an outrage.

DIANE HATCHER, Cooper City

Behind the travel ban

The writer of a Nov. 22 One-liner asked why, as an American citizen, he can travel to Communist China but not to Communist Cuba without a special license from the American government.

Maybe it's because during the Cuban Revolution a lot of American property was confiscated by the Castro regime. Hotels, vacation homes, refineries, stuff like that. Maybe the American government finds it distasteful for Americans to travel to Cuba without any regard for the Americans who lost property there.

China, on the other hand, hasn't harmed Americans directly (yet) and fought on the side of the Allied forces during World War II, helping America win the war.

JAIME PUJOL, Miami

Punish the corrupt

Corruption and white-collar crime are eroding the foundation of this country, and there are not enough deterrents.

The Bernie Madoffs and Scott Rothsteins -- as well as corrupt public officials -- have to understand that there will be a high price to pay for their crimes.

If convicted, they should not be sent to a country-club prison for a lot of years. They should be sent to the state penitentiary for a few years, where they will be in the middle of a jungle.

As for public officials who betray our trust, they should be punished twice as much as anybody else and banned from ever holding public office again. Something has to be done to discourage this behavior or we all will pay a high price.

CARLOS CASTILLO, Miramar

Opera rewritten

Florida Grand Opera has had the temerity to rewrite the ending of Puccini's Suor Angelica at the Ziff Opera House.

Since this revision deprives the piece of its religious and emotional catharsis, one suspects that a hefty donation was given to FGO to feature a living child instead of Puccini's ghostly one come to take Mama to heaven.

If this is true, and the trend continues, we might yet see Lucia sporting Victoria's Secret lingerie during her mad scene or Carmen throwing Don Jose a pair a lace panties instead of the customary flower.

If everything is for sale in this country why not the arts as well?

HUGO BONICHE, Miami