The daily Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1916-1917, 1916-08-24

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that he wasn't such a bad skate aftel
all. So long as you stand solid will
your sweetheart you think she is the
/ wisest girl in creation. Should she
decide to marry someone else. youI
confidence in her judgment drops tC
! zero minus. It's all a matter of the
way you look at il. at what side OF
/ the fence you are on. And that Is
what | want to talk about-the other
side Of the fence. Only. in this case
/ it is the other side of the counter.
I As soon as you cross the few feet
/ that divide the space behind the cOun-
Ter from the store proper, your whole
status. your entire viewpoint is chang
ed. From a customer you become a
servant. From one who has had all
the others at his beck and call, you
become the slavey. the patient per-
former of all the senseless whims that
people are guilty of.
The Big Night at the Store.
1t is Saturday night-the big night
in the Ice Cream Parlor where | deign
to be enc of the willing group of good
Samaritans who relieve parched Co
lumbians of their thirst and-change.
Behind the counter all is in readiness
against the expected descent. Before
nine o'clock people begin to dribble
in. Then comes the warning cry
show is OUT" In troops the crowd,
the noise and the business. My EN-
ployers rub their hands in ,glee. All
the tables are taken. Why will people
all come at the same time? The mus
ic. the chatter, the clink of glasses,
the scraping Of chairs, the conversa
ton. the orders make a pot-pourri of
sound pleasant to one who likes noise.
crowds. and movement in volume. The
walters. all cf them. are in seven plac-
es at once. the very agile ones some
times managing to cover nine places
at once The dishes are gone in
Ling ling -a-ling,"
Drat that telephone. 1t insists 1t |
can't see that l don't at all wish to /
firt with il at the moment 1t has no |
pride whatsoever and keeps on ring
ing. Hurriedly putting down the dish
eS ! have been filling with ice cream. |
| rush to the phone Comes the sweet |
query as sO-and-so there?' With
all that noise in the place. two hun
ired or more people present, and 9th
ars coming in or leaving every NOM
ant the question is very easy to an
Swer Very. sweetly, in honeyed ac-
cents ! assure the cOnsiderate party
At the ether end that after due inves-
-igation | have the extreme honor TO
inform him, her. or it. that no such
person is Vresent l dive between two
ne more than a little breath, and fill
ng more than little breath and fill
hree orders, at the same time get
ing five others Again come the melo-
lious sounds of the phone. What 9TH
IT course, considering my innate kind
lesS can | take than reverently de-
atch the receiver and let il rest for
While Who knows? Perhaps the
,erson at the other end will take the
,entle int the phone is tired.
From orange-ice-phosphate-lemon-
de and grape juice-miik-
ae through all the fifty-seven varie-
les of drinks that the customers have
een educated up to, serve on de-
land and-sometimes sooner There
5 absolutely no drink in this world
he previous or the future worlds that {
re can not serve. | am engrossed !
nth Cnly five customers. and am rest
lg. so to speak. when in drops a wo-
IAN who has evidently been shop |
ing. and will | please to put this t
mall package. and this and this too, c
lease. away for her? Certainly, |
ave all the time in the world to do
uch things. | grab the packages po-
tely. deposit them somewhere and \
lsh off to serve an order, after pO- I
tely requesting man to let me pass
here he has chosen the aisle for a n
esting place while he surveys the
lace, having just bought penny box A
matches. hurry back to wait on
,meone who is gravely cogitating. as u
afits one who is about to spend the
nge sum of five cents, what species ,
dusky covered tooth contamination
le will invest in. After vaccillating o
,tween two counters on opposite e.
des of the store she chooses the fur u
er counter, and with hop skip and o.
mp | am there and have filled the 1t
der and registered the coin before
Ie has had time to taste the con-
ctiOn. Back to the other side to r.
lswer a wOman's query on where
ch and such building or house or y,
,rson is. | assure her that it is no
Ouble at all, that that is what | am h;
ere for. and in fact-that | exist Nh