@kentpitman wrote: «And not because the uses weren't there, but because people are so used to not having good handling that they've gotten used to not looking for help in such arenas.» Right. On the off chance this turns out to be a little witty, if one has never had a hammer, nothing looks like a nail. Kent, your post reminded me how you explained to me once (possibly in comp.lang.lisp) that not all conditions (in the sense of this thread) are errors. I think your example was "no cashier at cash register in a big supermarket at off-peak hours" (when only a couple of cash registers are in operation). @chemoelectric @dougmerritt @screwlisp