DEAR ABBY: My mother was a stickler when it came to table manners. She had a little 1-inch-long ceramic pink pig that she placed in front of me every time I did something Emily Post would frown on. I hated that little pig. -- RALPH IN ARROYO GRANDE, CALIF.
DEAR RALPH: Now, now. You should have been grateful to that little pig, because it kept you from becoming a big one.