DEAR ABBY: In response to the letter from a World War II vet who wrote that cigarettes were so cheap in the service, he couldn't afford not to smoke, I say, "Ha!"
I was in Korea as a Marine and never smoked -- no matter how many others were smoking around me. I knew back then it was a filthy habit, thanks to my sixth-grade teacher in Minneapolis, who taught me the definition of a cigarette:
"A little bit of tobacco, rolled up in a little bit of paper, with a little fire at one end and a little fool at the other."
Abby, that little lesson has served me well all my life. -- DICK BAKKEN, SAN DIEGO
DEAR DICK: Your sixth-grade teacher was an exceptionally wise educator. It is possible that the lesson you and your classmates were taught is the reason you are alive today to write this letter.