31 JULY 1993, Page 25

LETTERS Advice for Sir Alec

Sir: Alec Guinness complains (Diary, 10 July) of waiters asking 'if everything was to his satisfaction'. In the United States this practice is almost de rigueur. There it almost amounts to the waiter seeking to ensure the obligatory 15 per cent tip. Might I suggest, as perhaps Mary Killen might, that when this question is asked for the first time during a meal Sir Alec firmly assures the waiter that he would have heard imme- diately had anything been unsatisfactory. Stephen J. Edwards

The Old Vicarage, Sherston, Malmesbury, Wiltshire