Going shopping for one of the girls

The Jewish Family and Children's Services has been flooded with offers of support for the Brown twins, Marian and Vivian. Among the letters received by JFCS marketing man Robert Miller was this from Evelyn Miller Adler, which came along with a contribution:

"This check is for the 'Brown Girls,' as my father called them. Please tell them Abe Miller always thought of them as the ultimate shoppers. For years, he sold them shoes at the downtown Emporium and shared jokes and life tips. The Girls belong to San Francisco; let's see that they stay."

By phone on Tuesday, Adler said that she remembers "the girls," which is what her father called them, "very well." When he worked at the Emporium in the early 1970s, "my father was very fond of them. He was their favorite shoe salesman."

But Adler has another connection with the twins, too. She's a retiree who volunteers as a case aide for the senior department of the Family Services, and one of her regular tasks is shopping for folks who can't do it for themselves. "Vivian must have lost some weight," she said, "so she needed new clothes." Dispatched to purchase clothing for Vivian, she'd just come back from shopping when we talked.

She'd prepared for the trip as she usually does, by using a tape measure to assess Vivian's size, and talking with her about color preferences. "She's able to manage her life pretty well," said Adler, "and knew what colors she liked and what she wanted. ... I bought her slacks and tops, and underwear, a sweater."

At Kohl's, she "did very well," said Adler. "I had one coupon, my daughter had another, and between the two of us we saved them another few dollars." She came back with casual clothes, tops in light colors and bright prints, pants in dark colors.

Adler seemed pleased to help Brown. "My role is as a volunteer," she said, "to do whatever it is to do that social workers deem necessary. ... It really was my pleasure, it's something I do. It's like paying forward. I get a lot of gratification out of it, and it fills my time. And I'm delighted that they're getting the kind of recognition and care that they need."

Linda Naughton e-mailed in response to Tuesday's item about the man whose "stuff" was on a security conveyor belt. At SFO recently, Naughton emerged from the metal detector and the TSA agent asked if she had something in a back pocket. She checked her pockets, said no, and thereupon was subjected to "a very invasive pat-down.

"I was then led to another agent who said he had to swipe my hands. I asked why and was told 'you touched a sensitive area.' " Asked to identify the sensitive area, the agent told her it was her own buttocks.

P.S.: In other matters of law and order, on Facebook I was checking out Artem Kevorkov's pictures of last Friday's gathering, at Justin Herman Plaza, in support of the Pussy Riot rock band sentenced to prison in Russia. The crowd looks colorful, but not large. But plainly visible among the signs is that of Frank Chu, the 12 Galaxies man. Good to see he's keeping up with the latest issues.

Jack Murphy was happy that a local icon, the late Merl Saunders, got national recognition on Saturday as the answer to a clue, "keyboardist Saunders," in the New York Times crossword.

Mel Gibson, child and entourage had burgers and ribs at the Hard Rock Cafe at Pier 39 on Tuesday. Director Paul Thomas Anderson, Maya Rudolph and crew members of Anderson's "The Master," in the neighborhood because of a screening at the Castro, had dinner at La Mediterranee on Noe Street.

As to fewer-than-expected teams competing in the America's Cup, optimist Gar Smith prefers to see America's Cup as half full.

Richard Reynolds, who plays French horn in the Lamplighters' orchestra, reports that in "The Mikado," which has been playing around the Bay Area, Lord High Executioner Ko-Ko carries his list of victims on an iPad. The song's been altered to include among those who would not be missed, "that most annoying roadster, the texting motorist ... on jail we should insist!"