Compared to a pig

Here is a letter to today's advice column:

Dear Annie: You have printed a few letters about teaching children manners, and one writer suggested a game called "Pass the Piggy."

When I was 4 years old and first learning to use utensils, I dropped something off my fork. My father leaned over and said, "Am I going to have to get you a pig trough?"

The next night he watched me intently, and when something fell from my trembling hand, he exclaimed, "That's it!" He had nailed together a wooden pig trough, which he dropped in front of me and then laughed like it was the most hilarious joke in the world.

Since then, I have felt shamed and unlovable. When I started school, I was terrified that somehow the other children would find out about it. I have had two bad marriages and don't date. I'm now 59 and was only recently able to talk about this incident in a support group, and only after both of my parents died.

When your psyche is damaged in childhood, it is irreparable. Don't ever compare your children to pigs. — Texas Single Woman

This letter is a prank. 4-year-old kids like pigs. There is no record of anyone being damaged by such a childhood remark.