Dear Ann Landers,
hat do you think of a 30-year-old father who, on his son's second birthday, pushes his son's face into the birth- I I 2 / ANN LAN I) EI1S day cake while 20 people are watching? Then, with a big grin, the father proceeds to videotape his child's stunned response and the tears that follow. For several weeks, the little boy knew that his birthday was coming. He kept repeating words like "birthday" and "two," while holding up two little fingers. He had looked forward to the party with such joy, and to have it end like that was heartbreaking. I was so upset that I left without saying goodbye. I am the child's grandmother. What would you have done? -Milwaukee Journal Reader

Dear Reader,
No loving father could have done such a thing. Be-neath that "joke," there is genuine hostility. I would not have left the party. I would have stayed, comforted the child and told his father in no uncertain terms that I didn't see any-thing funny about pushing his son's face into a cake-that it was cruel and disgusting. P.S. I wonder if he was one of those grooms who shoved the wedding cake in his bride's face, a "custom" I find equally deplorable and highly suspect.