DR. WALLACE: My father has smoked cigarettes and cigars for over 20 years. My mother and I have been "encouraging" him to stop smoking for a dozen different reasons, but most of all, because he is the best dad and husband in the world and we don't want to lose him to some tobacco-related malady.

I know that cigarettes are terribly addictive. Mom and I are thinking of buying him a pipe for his birthday, hoping he'd stop smoking cigarettes and cigars and take up pipe smoking instead. Is this a good idea? — Sue, Monmouth, Ill.

SUE: All tobacco products are harmful and addictive. Make sure your father reads this column saying that you both think that he is the best dad and husband in the world and your mom and you don't want to lose him to a tobacco illness. These wonderfully written words you should inspire dad to do all in his power to rid himself of his addictive habit. Contact me again in a few weeks and let me know how dad is doing since he became smoke-free.

O.K., Dad, your family did their part, and I've done my part. Now make us all happy by doing your part!

CHURCH ELDER HAS MISPLACED PRIORITIES

DR. WALLACE: Last Sunday I wore my New York Yankees sweatshirt and a pressed pair of jeans and tennis shoes to church because I was going on a picnic afterwards. A friend was picking me up at the church, so I wasn't going to have a chance to go home and change my clothes.

Yesterday, one of the elder church members told my mother that I was improperly dressed for church and it would have been better if I had stayed at home rather than dress the way I did. This embarrassed my mom and she's really mad at me now. She said I could never attend church dressed that way again. I probably won't, but I thought going to church was important, not how a person dressed. Do you agree? — Ted, Springfield, Mass.

TED: It's much more important to attend church than to dress to the nines and, as far as I'm concerned, the elder church member who spoke to (and embarrassed your mother) has misplaced priorities. Your looks were less important than your presence at the house of worship.

Still, at some churches, dressing in one's Sunday best is part of the tradition, and anyone who shows up looking like an advertisement for the New York Yankees is going to stand out like a sore thumb. You could have avoided that situation by wearing your Sunday best to church and bringing your jeans and sweatshirt in a gym bag, and then changing before you departed for the picnic.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. E-mail him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.