Dear Heloise: I agree with J.J. in Oklahoma City, that it’s annoying for stores to push credit cards on customers. The problem is that companies require that employees push these cards, often punishing or firing workers, who don’t meet numbers for applications. It’s a nightmare for retail workers. Also, every time a person applies for a credit card, their credit score is reduced. J.J. was right to speak to the manager, but managers today have limited power.

J.J., and others who also have an issue with this, need to write to the corporate president or CEO and ask them to stop linking employee evaluations to these credit card applications, as it is making customers avoid their stores. — A Former Retail Worker, via email

TOO MUCH FRUIT?

Dear Readers: If you have grown or purchased too much fruit, but cannot use it all before it starts to brown or go bad, do not throw it out. Instead, chop the fruit into pieces or puree it to use as a topping for ice cream, waffles or cakes. You can also make a yummy jam. — Heloise

CHARITY HINT

Dear Heloise: My husband and I gladly give to our church and local charities. We look at Charity Navigator to check on a multitude of mail from those needing our money. How do we find enough to give? When it’s too rainy to golf, use that money to give to others. I do my nails myself once in a while and give that money to others. (Do I fix my own hair? Never. I do have to feel fairly good about myself.) Love your column daily. — Bonnie Sharp, in California

BABY PICTURE

PLACE CARDS

Dear Heloise: I am the mother of a son adopted from an orphanage. We have no baby pictures of him. I know many adoptive parents and foster parents for whom this is also true. We spend many hours agonizing over “family tree” and childhood assignments in school emphasizing baby pictures, which single out our children and require them to explain their origin stories.

Please refrain from asking guests to bring in a baby picture, as not everyone has an adorable “Gerber baby” portrait at home. Thanks for your understanding. — Patricia Havens, Claremont, California