Omaha daily bee., 1919-09-19
About the Vacation
From The New York Evening Post.
The following one-sided conversation was

The following one-sided conversation was
overheard in downtown restaurant:
You know, the place was crowded from
the time we got there till we left. They tried
to feed me up on veal loaf and salads and l
never cared for either. rarely saw my wife;
she would start out in the morning to pick
blackberries, and when she came back she
was so tired that she had to go to bed. The
children seemed to have good time, but
they wore their clothes to shreds and tat
tiers. Smoke never smoked so much in my
life. And to my dying day I'll never forget
that trip home. In the station they were
packed even into the telephone booths. And
today my stenographer told me she was 60
ing on vacation or quit. ! hate to let the
little shrimp feel that I'm beholden to her,
but what can l do? It's better to let her go
for while than forever. Lord, it's awful!
There is possibility that this man enjoyed.
or at least benefited from, his vacation in ways
of which he himself is unaware. If the inter-
ruption of the normal brought home TO him
the wholesomeness of routine activity The is
wiser man. If the civic center which he affec-
tionately calls his home town appeals to him
as the best place in which to spend his time and
money, the quality of his citizenship has been
improved. If his children ruined their clothes,
it is likely that they improved their health at
the same time.
Getting the. most out of vacation is, of
course an art, for it is largely matter of play
ing tricks the mind. We go away to see
faces, but the most essential feature of a
town of any size is its transient population. Or
we go to get change of diet, but the cook is
the most mutable of household personalities.
90 miles to the north and north wind begins
to blow at the rate of so miles an hour, it is
only hour until that same air reaches our
home. Or we go to escape the heat, but it is
an open secret that it can, and frequently does,
get just as hot in, say, the peaceful wales of the
Berkshire hills as it does at Laredo, Tex.
Nothing surpasses in interest mans relation
to his own mind and body. The vacationist
knows, subconsciously. that he cannot have the
comforts of home while away. But it is a
change and as such produces mental i'm
provement even though it be- physically, for
the worse. 1t may be unpleasant to be forced
to change our mind; but it is exhilaratng to
change it at will. Each part is set in action,
whereas before it all moved in the accustomed
grooves of current life. On the vacation we
do number of little things none of which
resembles the other and all of which combined
are unlike the big home task.
Some people go vacation just to be I'M
like Kant, who never left Kongsberg. The
dissimilarty fatters. Others tell all about
their prospective journey long in advance in
order to be different from Goethe, who, when
he started on vacation, never told any one
where he was going or when he was coming
back-except those who made his journey ma
teriay possible And Goethe rode through
Switzerland with the blinds of his carriage
drawn; there was nothing there to see but
mountains"
There are two classes of people who should
never be offered vacation: The man who takes
special pride in saying that he never had va
cation in his life. If he is not deprived of the
privilege, he may live long and die happy in the
conviction that his course has been one of wis
dom. Nor should the lazy man be encouraged
to take vacation Laziness is to honest
fatigue as camouhage is to reality