MESSAGE CENTER

LET'S HEAR IT for passport expediting services! I used Travel Document Systems at McPherson Square. I went to TDS on a Thursday afternoon, and 14 days later FedEx delivered the passport to my door at 9 a.m.

How do they do it? I found out that the State Department releases passports to TDS after hours, between 5 and 8:30 p.m. The $120 I coughed up with such trepidation was well spent! How much would most of us pay to avoid standing in line downtown?

Outsourcing passports -- that is the free enterprise system.

Ellen Iscoe

Hyattsville

Travel With Kids, Cont'd

MIKE FREDERICK didn't appreciate the Travel section devoting space to travel with kids [Message Center, July 1]. While Mr. Frederick may not appreciate it, traveling and children are not mutually exclusive, and putting the two together, especially when venturing outside of the typical beach vacation, is challenging.

I thought taking a look at the subject from the children's point of view was a good idea. Like it or not, the residents of Washington are indeed like those of Des Moines and the other cities he brushes off so casually. Some have children, some don't. Some have traveled extensively, others haven't. Some are well-educated, others aren't. Some earn plenty of money, others just get by.

Not every article in the Travel section is for everyone, but let's at least try to understand that there is a wide demographic range of readership. And let's also attempt to keep our cosmopolitan noses at a reasonable altitude.

John McLean