A reader wrote to E-Brief editors in response to last week's story on the helium shortage. This is what he had to say:

Last year at this time I wrote you about this problem. The only thing that has changed in the intervening year is that my cost has continued to go up (I now pay $160.14 for a tank of helium as opposed to $60.00 back in 1999). On the other hand, FTD and Teleflora continue to charge $5 for a balloon (the same amount they charged back in 1999) while Bloomnet/1800Flowers charges $5.99 for one balloon and $10 for two ... Are these companies oblivious to my costs? Or is it they just don't care? And as to my colleagues, I say the same thing today as I did last year:  "Am I the only person in the field who watches his costs so that I see a necessity to raise the charge for a mylar to $6?" 
 

-- Chaim Casper
President & CEO
Surf Florist & Gifts of Miami Beach & Aventura, Fla.

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