The Washington herald., 1917-12-10
Vie.Os Of Interest the Women Readers Of The Herald %
FORGET II.
ny DOROTHY DIX.
The Worlds Highest Paid Woman Writer.

II could choose q motto for my
sex-a motto that should be iliumi-
mated on the walls Of every house
and pasted on every woman's mir
ror. where she would see It a thous-
and times q day-it would be the
slang phrase Of the day, "Forget IT,
The main trouble with women is
that they have too good memories.
They remember things too long, too
much and too often. The chief OBJ
stacle that stands in their way to
happiness II that they are carrying
such excess baggage Of recollections
OF the past that they are handicap
ped by II.
ences In the past have been, whether
good or bad. pleasant or unpleasant,
she can never bear to close the door
upon them. She 10 always turning
them over in her mind, dwelling upon
them, talking about them, living them
over again in her Imagination until
she makes herself nothing but a
perambulating back number, and a
bore to everyone she meets.
This coddling Of happy memories
OF the past gives US that almost I'M
bearable affliction, the woman who
has seen better days. We all know
her. You have not been two minutes
in her company before she begins to
tell you OF the almost regal splendor
in which she was reared; of the pal
ace her home was; Of the multitude
Of servants; of the perennial gayety
that went on; of what a belle she
was, and how many ranks Of suitors
all rich and handsome-were signing
at her feet; Of the magnificence of
her trousseau; Of what a grand we'd
ding she had. and SO on, and on, and
on, and on, until she comes to the
place where she begins to weep and
says she never expected to come to
this, and wants to know II you won't
help her with the rent.
or course It may seem q harmless
have only bread and water to eat.
to feast upon the memories Of the
cakes and ale that they used to have
in the past, but in reality 1t Is a
most demoralizing thing to do. A
woman can make a dope dream Of her
former grandeur that will just as
much incapacitate her for dealing
with present conditions as IL she was
drugged with opium.
When you find q woman who lives
In the memories OF her golden past
you will Invariably find one who is
a Stacker, who IL shiftless, lazy. un-
tidy and inefficient She is the kind
of a woman who, II she takes board
ers, will expect her "reminiscences
OF her great-uncle who was a Sem
ator to atone for the fact that her
rooms are dirty and her meals never
on time; or. II she takes in sewing.
will expect her pedigree to make up
for hooks and eyes never fitting and
skirts hanging in points around the
bottom. All the energy she needs to
use in her business She exhausts in
remembering the past.
1t is a great blessing to have beep
well born, to have had a childho I
and youth full Of sunshine and hap
piness and plenty, but when they are
over. they are over. They are done,
finished, past beyond recall, and the
wise woman is she who puts them be-
hind her, who forgets them and lets
other people forget them, and who
wastes no time In dreaming OF hall
cyon days that are gone, but who rolls
up her sleeves and grapples with to-
day and wrings something out OF it
that is better and more substantial
than a vague memory.
II the woman, who Is sloshing
over with happy memories Of the past
is a pest. the woman who has un-
happy memories is a scourge from
which the boldest Of US fee. She is
an incarnate wet blanket. a human
kill-joy, tear jug whose contents are
being continually spilled over US.
At her approach every smile packs
up its little kit bag and beats it for
the tall timber. She has hardly taken
her seat before she commences the
Iliad OF her woes. She is a poor per-
secuted creature whom nobody loves
or wants about, and whom every
body Sights. II she's poor she COM
plains that her employer doesn't ap-
preciate her. and shows favoritism
to others in the Office. II she's rich,
the people she does things for are
not grateful enough. If she has
children she worries over them. If
she has a husband, he fails to come
UP to her ideals. If someone she loves
has died, she never gets over 1t.
Naturally you are expected to Join
In with this dreary drizzle and mingle
your sobs with the Iady's lamenta-
tions. but what you want to do is to
give her a good shake and say, For
heavens sake. Forget It"