Recently, I sat in a comfortable chair at a major shopping mall in our city to observe the shoppers. It can be a great show filled with lots of variety and an occasional surprise or two. On this occasion, my eye was drawn to the number of people walking, talking, and chewing gum. I was astounded. My mind shot back to hearing my mother instruct me on how to chew gum.

Rule #1. Break one stick in half and put it your mouth. There are two reasons for this. The first is that the "cud" of gum being chewed is small, not taxing to the jaw muscles and can be chewed with minor movement of your jaw. The other reason is that when your first half-piece grows dull, you have another fresh half-piece just waiting to delight you.

Rule #2. Chew with your lips closed. There is nothing appealing about seeing into the mouth of a person chew gum. It is really an unpleasant

sight. I have been amazed at he number of otherwise attractive, well dressed, and well groomed people I've seen completely distroy their image by chewing gum with their lips parted and mouth open. Yuck!

Rule #3. Talk or chew but not at the same time. There is no way to talk with your lips closed, so, right away you have broken Rule #2 by chewing with the contents of your mouth exposed. When you talk with gum in your mouth, your words are unclear, and if you are talking on a telephone, the chomp, chomp, of the chewing is sent directly into your listener's ear along with the garbled words.

Rule #4. Be considerate of people round you. Comping, smacking, popping, and blowing bubbles a not soothing sounds. They are rude and unpleasant. Don't let people hear you chew gum or see the gum you are chewing. If you must chew, be considerate of other people.

By the way, is Dentyne or Black Jack still being sold?