Great letter. I completely agree that these registries should be working. Haven't had this problem in our store.

With regards to who throws the shower... I think that etiquette is a wonderful thing but sometimes common sense must prevail. If a girl does not have a "best friend" to throw a shower for her, I don't think it's wrong for the mother or even the girl to throw her own shower. Some people don't have strong support systems or people they can count on. When I was pregnant with Zack, I only had casual friends. No one to throw a shower for me. My mother and I threw it. It was mostly family but there were some casual friends there... Just my take on it.