setting values in select element

Hi, My form has a select element used to build a SQL query. My problem is: quickform gives number to the values of the options, so I need to make an extra but useless query. It would be much easier in my case if those values were similar to the text's options shown to the user. Like: <select> <option value="thing1">thing1</option> <option value="thing2">thing2</option> ... I've come up with this idea: when the user submit the form, a hidden element is set with the text of the selected option. But i'm not satisfied with this solution because it would be done in javascript.

Attachment: [application/pkcs7-signature] smime.p7s