The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1910-02-03
BUSINESS MEN,
ARE BOTHERED
Restricting Conversation to Matter In
Hand Making, World Dreary.


1t Is most dificult D accustom one
self to business brevity. There is
something so meager, almost poverty
stricken. about restricting the CONVEX
satfon to the business in hand. 1t
does not seem cordial And then to
stop just as you have begun to like
your business associate-nO. no,
never can one cease to feel that there
is something very unsatisfactory about
business methods. The man may be
busy magnate, but that is no rea-
son why one should be curt with
him. He is probably father as well
and perhaps lover Of dogs. At any
rate. make AN effort to find out. When
the six minutes have passed which it
took to settle the matter you called
to him about, ask how his children
ere and IL he thinks there will be any
skating this winter. There is no need
OF being surly just because business
has been touched upon. One can al
ways say, How is your wife's cold %
or The price OF meat is going up, ism I
tT'-something folksy and nice.
Even men swivel chairs must
have human Side. and although one
scowls and barks while business is
under discussion, it being well under
stood that this is the way to give the
impression that one is clear-headed,
hurried. and keen, when business has
been pushed aside, 1t is so against
all a woman's instincts to leave
abruptly One wants to settle back
and murmur. What an awful tie
re wearing" or Don't you think
F. ch opera is being rather over
doner'
When you call a busy woman up
on the telephone to ask for an appoint
ment at 10 o'clock and she says and
you say very well and she rings off,
you do feel so peculiarly dashed. Sort
OF cut on in your prime. The appoint
ment was the only thing you had to
ask her about, but how could she be
sure of that? This ringing off sud
denly leaves so little margin for the
unexpected. Who can tell IL she had
waited you might have thought of
something else to say. And then you
feel perfectly friendly toward the per-
son and though you have not seen her
yet, you rather like her voice 1t may
be that she likes yours. It would do
no harm to ask her, but pleasant
amenities are out Of the question with
every one ringing of in this choleric
manner
Try as she will to accustonl herself
to the ways OF the business world, a
woman continues TO feel distressingly
abbreviated. eliminative, condensed,
eKpurgated. IL one is naturally a six
volume novel IL is no light matter to
act like footnote. And very often
one can think OF muSh nicer things to
talk about than the matter in hand.
II has brought you together That is
enough; why bother with II further?
While you were in the outer office
you evolved a convincing theory on
travel; why not discuss that? Why
this passion for relevancy? IL ham
pers one. ii ties one down, and all the
lime there is the disagreeable sensa-
ION of being pushed from behind. II
is not at all soothing. This thinking
quickly. speaking quickly acting
quickly and always TO the point, it will
just end in the business women stopp-
ing one day. turning fiercely about
and addressing the air behind them
with. Jaw, stop yer pushin:" there
isn't any real hurry. AS for us. we
have got to be irrelevant or bust"