Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1859-04-08
THE GAZETTE.
FRIDAY MORNING. APRIL s, 1859.
OFFICIAL IMPERTlNENCE.


The possession of ''little brief authority
is very apt to make men more or less AFRO
CANT aud more or less regardless OF the rights
of others. 1t is tolerably we'll settled prn,
ciple, for instance, that all men are entitieu
to a certain degree of polite treatment, so
long as they behave themselves, and occasion,
ally we meet men with sufficient hardwood
to claim their rights in this regard when
snubbed by short-tempered othclals. Inns
does not happen frequently however. A
stranger wanders into some public place, say
into the Capitol grounds, andignorantly viola
ties some rule. He walks on the grass, or he
throws the stumpof his cigar into a fish pond
to see if the gold and silver fishes have learn
ed the use of tobacco, and he is grufiy rebuked
BY surly officer. In nine cases out ften the
culprit sinks away, like we'll educated dog
who has been told to '.go out, and who I'M
derstands the order to be threat OF summa-
~ eiectment. He embraces his tail with his
hind legs and yanishes.
Official personages Of low grade-that is to
say, those who are in constant contact with the
masses, are not often popular; and the rea-
son is, because they are not often polite. 1t
is not difficult to account for the repulsive
demeanor of men, not particularly good-na-
tured, who occupy position that necessita-
ties constant intercourse with a rude public
A man selling tickets through narrow win,
dow in railroad depot is addressed by a
hundred different individuals in the course of
an hour, and the travelling public is al
most always in hurry, excited, and unamia-
BILE. The public holds the ticket agent res
ponsible for any defects in the arrangement
of the depot-any improperly in the hour of
starting, and tacitly blames him for any
unpleasantness in the weather. IT the hack
driver has swindled the traveller in exacting
an extra and unrighteous quarter, he is very
apt to visit his indignation upon the head
ofthe first railroad official he accosts Some
one tells the story of man issuing from the
door of gambling hell. after losing all his
money, (of course) and feeling decidedly I'M
amiable in consequence. The first individu-
al he sees is a man sitting OH the curb-stone
tying his shoe, and the unlncky sporting-man
incontinently kicks him into the middle Of
the street. When asked by the sufferer to
account for such outrageous treatment, he
replied, "COnfound you, you are al,cays tying
that shoe" Any body can see the reasona-
bleness of the assault, and the perfect aptness
of the excuse offered.
Another example of official rudeness may be
found in the bank-clerk. He has dealings
with two or three hundred persons during
the day, and nine-tenths of them are surly
and cross-grained. Ill nature lisa bad disease
and it is contagious, so the bank-clerk gets
grumpy and stays 80. He catches the dis
ease, and he communicates it. When the
good-natured tenth of the bank customers
approach him, he gathers his brows into their
al on1 c,y cbprt
swers to polite questions. He considers him.
self the natural enemy of all men who have
business with his institution. Moreover, he
is prone to fancy himself President. Cashier,
the whole Board of Directors, and the princi-
pal owner of all the specie in the bank vaults,
and as an indiscriminate public do not often
recognize his multifarious claims to high con-
sideration, he is "down on the public. -
There are two classes Of clerks that usually
fall into this habit of over estimating their
importance; the first one. those who have been
in the institution for long time, and the Sc
cond are the youngest clerks, most recently
appointed As a general rule, Presidents
and Cashiers and Tellers have more sense than
to "put on" unnecessary airs, though we need
not travel over twenty or thirty thousand
miles to find examples Of rudness even among
them.
1t never pays to be surly and disagreeable.
No matter hew great the provocation to an
ill-natured retort,, he who chokes it down and
returns an amiable reply is always the vic
tor. If an individual should really need
''taking down" it is quite possible to say the
most savage things with smiling face and
perfect suavity Of demeanor. Perhaps this
is little more malignant than a rough
speech. but it looks great deal nicer. 1t is
much the safer course to give the "soft an
swer" that "turneth away wrath, and leave
the cross-grained brute to his own conscience,
and to the comparison between his roughness
and your kindler manner. A man who is
short and snsppish with his equals, and harsh
and overbearing to his interiors (if he has
any, will certainly be trucking and servile to
his superiors: while the polished gentleman
is the same everywhere. always kind. polite
and pleasant, and always popular. The off
cial has certain duties to perform, and he
ewesit to his employers to do his work promp-
tly and we'll; and he owes it to his employers,
to society. and most of all, to himself, to do it
witheutill-h and without impertinence.
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