The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1870-11-11
Civility.

The fact that " civility costs nothing" il
probably the secret of It's unfashionableness
A thing that every one can have few think
worth having.
Men of industry, of integrity, of respecta
bic intellectual gifts are met at every turn
but your purely civil man is a rara dUis We
are not speaking of people in their social re
l~ations, but in their intercourse with the
outside world. Many men who are every
thing that is genial and courteous in the
home circle, become cold, brusque or irrita
Bile the moment they enter their counting
rooms, Offices. or place of business, whatever
it may be. The playful, Indulgent pater
.tamilidS OF half an hour before suddenly
changes into q surly ogre, who snaps up his
little pale faced clerk as if he would make q
supplementary breakfast of him. Under
such q master it is no wonder that the clerk
in turn finds it impossible to be civil to any
stranger whom the chance of business may
throw in his way.
AS q general thing, clerks in mercantile
houses do not stand in need OF ungracious
examples. Mach dealing with complicated
accounts seem to sour the disposition.
Fractions beget righteousness. If you desire
a fine healthy specimen of irritability, take
an ancient book keeper at the time he is
making out his balance sheet, and ask him
the slightest question not connected With his
calculations. But for all people engaged in
strictly sedentary occupations, one should
make generous allowance.
As a class, the clerks in retail stores are
remarkably courteous, considering the tests
to which their patience ID constantly sub
jected. We wish it were not in our way to
say it, but women make the very worst
retail clerks In the world.
Ia most cases they seem
ness in hand. If their customer is man,
they like or dislike him at a glance, and
are proportionately attentive or indifferent
When dealing with wonderland this ID u
wise woman's tCstimony-they are apt to be
curt, impatient and disobiiging. If a woman
tastefully OF absurdly dressed enters the
store. business receives a furtive stroke OF
paralysis; the new conner is instantly IN
ventoried, dissected, and-so to ~spesk-sat
upon by the female coroners Of the shop,
whose verdicts are delivered to each other
across the counters by a system Of eye tele.
graphy not understood by man. None of
those peculiarities attach themselves to the
masculine clerk. His faults are of a
different order. He ia rarely down.
right rude; he is more often overwhelmingly
polite and %killing-a very bad form Of
incivility.
Men who hold positions which bring
them into contact with the public and place
the public to a certain extent at their mercy
have no right to be anything but civil. The
ticket master at the railroad station has no
right to snub you because you do not happen
to know on which track your train is. The
conductor has no right to regard you with a
look OF disdain mingled with commiseTstion
when you ask him the name of the next
station. You were not born on the road.
and 1t your Interrogation convinces him that
you are q natural idiot. he ought to respect
your misfortune and not bstr.y it to the
other passengers The hackman Who gloom.
ny @"a'ss JON At the terminus Of the iouy,sy