DEAR ABBY: From time to time you print helpful hints from readers, and mine could possibly save some families from incurring an expensive plumbing repair.
I have been married and divorced twice. As a younger man, my wives and I always flushed our cigarette butts down the toilet when in the bathroom. One day, we had a serious plumbing problem -- our toilet overflowed. After getting the plumbing bill we found out all the cigarette filters had eventually closed up our sewer line. It was a costly lesson I hope other smokers will heed -- and I'm not even mentioning the risk of cancer. -- SMARTER NOW IN THE U.S.A.
DEAR SMARTER NOW: I won't mention the subject of cancer either. Thank you for your helpful suggestion, as well as the reminder that toilets were not intended for the type of butts you were flushing.