The Washington herald., 1913-07-23
NJ FRANCES sHAFFER.

It does not matter who It In what the
work. the responsibilities or the conse-
quences. not az person in the world cs-
capes the sorry, but very human weak
ness OF making mistakes.
And sometimes when cogs slip here and
there. where they were not meant to slip
at all. one is profoundly grateful that her
responsibilities have nothing to do with
human life. For It is very easy to make a
grievous blunder which results In mighty
loss. and it is desperately hard to bear
the consequences.
With surgeons, just d slip of the hand
or an error in judgment-and someone's
life may go out And with physicians 1t
is practically the same. often with nurses
Ohicers in charge of sea-going vessels.
engineers who pilot carloads overland
their mistakes are very costly, and the
aftermath Of regret Is bitter indeed,
1t was a nurse, We remember. whose
reason and life hung in the balance fol-
days and days because Of a bluuder she
had made in administering a poison in
stead of the healing potion she had in
tended to give.
Prone to Censure.
We are always very prone to say, All.
but 1t is life with which they are dealing.
and they ought to keep their wits about
them, else lay aside their work for stead
Ter hands and better-poised minds. And
ii is true enough, they ought to remem-
her the great stake, and none but the
most faithful and painstaking should un-
dertake duties where human lives may
pay the penalty Of mistakes. But the
most careful of all and the most conscien-
tious of all are nothing more than human.
and sooner or later a mistake is pretty
certain to creep in with its peace destroy
ing consequences.
And that is why, even when the mistake
is costly, censure should be tempered with
appreciation that back of the blunder
stands the weakness Of human nature, a
weakness from which not one of us is inn
mune. The only difference is that, hap
PLY enough. most of our blunders are
not weighed down with grievous conss-
offences to humanity.
In the ordinary affairs of life. In our
work and in our relationships with others
we are very apt to stumble into a tan
gle when most we want to be clear.
straight. without blunder of head. heart
or hands We want -to-but the weakly
human steps in, something that We
thought quite dependable snaps, and the
mistake is made. beyond repair. How
who always knows?
And it is the knowledge of our own
tendency to slip and fall that makes, or
ought to make, Jus tolerant when others
drop down, even though their misstep.
their biunder and its consequences react
upon US.
Mistakes Bound to Come.
All the way from irresponsible child
hood to painstaking manhood and
womanhood mistakes are bound to come,
and just as one hates to see the little
ones scolded and sometimes punished for
the slips that never fail, SO one dislil1es
to hear folk higher in authority nag and
worldly discipline a worker for a mistake
that he Gid not want to make at all
There are homes-one sees them with a
deep sigh Of regret-where children are
really afraid to confess a mishap of one
sort or another. afraid of the scolding, or
something worse, that awaits them. They
will keep 1t to themselves IL they can. or
deny it. IL that il the last resort. And
who blames them SO much? For little
folk have a keen sense of Justice and
know very well when rebukes are de-
served, when sympathy is needed in
stead.
And there are shops, offices. places of
general business. where the sorry fruits
Of blunder are Just as much dreaded
as they are by little folk-and perhaps
the result is the same.
Children and grown folk who half try
to get along with as few missteps as