Opinion editor's note: Star Tribune Opinion publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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Six days ago as of this writing, I dropped off two similarly sized packages at the U.S. Post Office counter in Roseville. As of this writing, the one package that was sent certified first-class mail had not been delivered to Rochester, Minn. However, the package sent to Edinburgh, Scotland, had been delivered. A 90-mile delivery vs. and "over the Atlantic Ocean" delivery. Makes one wonder!

Doug Berdie, Minneapolis

The back-and-forth regarding U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's dropping the dress code for members of the Senate has been mixed in its measure of the decorum or lack thereof in this move.

I was very amused by the Sept. 20 letter writer who translated the decorum issue of dress code or not to the lack of decorum of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Tayor Greene's questionable comments at the 2023 State of the Union address. Surely, in the writer's haste to submit her letter, she forgot the worst example ever of poor decorum, that being (House speaker, third in line to be president) Nancy Pelosi's very dramatic and painfully slow tearing up her copy of President Donald Trump's State of the Union address several years ago. Now that is a lack of decorum!

Kathy Peterson, Edina

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A Minneapolis clothier famously said, "You should always dress your best because you never get a second chance to make a first impression."

Sadly, our country has become a nation of T-shirts-and-jeans-wearing people. It is unfortunate that the Senate has chosen to allow its members to be sloppily dressed for its awesome duties.

What kind of a "first impression" will these senators make on children?

Majority Leader Schumer should immediately rescind his silly dress code changes.

Senators: Start looking sharp and do your job.

Mark D. Luther, Minnetonka

Recent reports (including the Sept. 20 editorial) discussed "modest" bipartisanship during Minnesota's last legislative session. I am personally less concerned about bipartisanship and more concerned with improving people's lives. Universal school meals, paid family leave, a tax cut for families, removing abortion restrictions, passing a bonding bill to complete projects in communities across Minnesota, child care assistance, adult-use cannabis, making Minnesota a safe place for transgender people, and more — all of these things contribute to making Minnesotans lives better, and that matters far more than if the accomplishments were bipartisan or not.

Anita Smithson, Bloomington

In response a Sept. 19 letter under the headline: "Society: Not as different as you think": I hope the letter writer subsequently read the Sept. 20 article about the gentleman stabbed at the U.S. Bank Stadium light rail station as a "practice killing." The victim is said to have been stumbling away, dragging his bike, attempting to assess his injuries and asking bystanders for help as one of his "neighbors" casually walked up and rode away on his bicycle. Sorry, not the neighborhood I would choose to live in.

Jerry Mengelkoch, Corcoran

Star Tribune Opinion's editors wrote truly misleading headlines for the two Norway commentaries published Sept. 21.

The first article had a headline of "Single parenthood doesn't mean poverty in Norway." Yet the article said the Norwegian poverty rate for single parents is two-thirds of the rate in the United States. This is quite a bit different from zero.

The second article was labeled "Prison doesn't mean torture in Norway." Yet the article didn't mention torture at all in either country. It said that Norway did a much better job of rehabilitating prisoners than the United States. Not at all the same.

Both articles could be rebutted on their claims. But both were good essays that were made to look stupid by poor headlines. The editors should be ashamed for messing up decent articles.

Mark V. Anderson, Minneapolis

Readers Write serves the readership by providing opportunities to express opinions, which, when based on accurate information, help educate other readers. When based on inaccurate information, opinions are nothing but clutter. Such was the case with "Life Time is reasonable on Medicare rules" (Sept. 18).

To wit:

The assertion that Silver Sneakers program is a "premium health club membership." The program does not provide access to tennis courts. Tennis players pay an additional fee plus a charge for court time.

The assertion that the "premium" membership is purchased at a "discounted" rate. No, it is purchased at a rate set by Silver Sneakers based on the reimbursement received from Medicare. Medicare reimbursement has always been lower than self-pay. Health care providers that accept Medicare reimbursement are not permitted to bill patients for additional payments beyond what they receive from Medicare. I'm looking forward to an informed opinion on whether the Life Time plan to extract additional payment from Medicare members is legal.

Most ludicrous was the assertion that the Life Time program has anything to do with shifting people to "off-peak" hours. I suggest the letter writer drop in to Life Time's Fridley club between 7 and 9 a.m., when it operates at less than 50% capacity and most of the users are seniors who would not be able to come until 9:30. It's really very simple: Life Time wants more revenue from seniors and hasn't been able to get it from insurance companies so is making up reasons (fully subscribed to by the writer) to get it out of us.

Robert Margolis, Arden Hills

Minneapolis city officials now cannot ignore facts. In the Sept. 20 issue of the Star Tribune was news of a rebound in hotel room bookings downtown and a growth in jobs. It's time to finally bring back pre-pandemic uniform skyway hours — 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 6 p.m. Sundays — and tweak those hours for major sporting events, concerts, conventions, shoppers, diners, etc.

City officials repeatedly say they want downtown vitality again. Winter is coming soon. Skyway users deserve hours to best serve all to make that happen. Do your part now and we promise success.

Barbara Nylen, Minneapolis