Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-09-28
NOT MUCH JOY IN
HERDAY'S WORK
Its Mostly a Day Of Clip
pings With Occasional
Outpourings.

L
Bright lights and laughter, gay
colors and OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
are the elements of the veil of ro-
nance and glamor which the un-
thinking everyday people all about
US are apt to cast over other peoples
occupations, at least over large
number of occupations with which
such associations have become ira
ditional. Thus it is we are apt to
think of the chorus girl, the travel
ing salesman, the circus rider and
the manicurist, particularly she who
cares for the hands of the other sex.
But if you are man and you walk
into a barber shop for a manicure,
your half-hour spent sitting across
the little white table from the girl
working on your hands is a half
hour of manicuring and not of fir
tation. She smiles up at you, a pro-
fessional smile, when you sit down,
and spreads clean towel on the
little pillow on the table. Now
comes the critical moment in which
the girl sizes up her customer, if he
is new one, for appearances some
times are misleading.
"Now You May Soak Them"
The ordinary preoccupied bust
ness man falls into a thoughtful
mood and sometimes scarcely a
word passes between the two, ex-
cept when she says, Nov you may
soak them" Or the customer may
start with the weather. There are
ways and ways of starting with the
weather, and the girl usually knows
what sort of man is facing her be-
fore he has said three words. And
if man thinks he is going to kid
her along" he usually starts right
in trying.
But we will presume there enters
the manicure's corner the average,
more or less tired business man,
with several pressing things to think
about. First she files his nails; not
grasping the long file firmly and
awkardly and saving away with
compressed lips, the edge of the file
digging into the finger tip, as so
many amateurs at the task are apt
to do. Instead she holds the in
strument of torture between her
thumb and finger as gracefully as
ever a society dame poised tea
spoon, and moves it swiftly and
lightly around the fingernail until
the nail is of the desired shape.
Then she clips and clips with tiny
flashing scissors so lightly that he
does not feel the points of the scis-
sors removing epidermal bits from
his finger ends.
Don't Exchange Three Words.
Then she works around the root
of the nail with an orange stick;
she polishes and she is done. Per
haps he hasn't exchanged three
words with her. Perhaps he has
told her that he is worried about
his wife or one of the kiddies and
it is possible that during the Is or
20 minutes that his hands have been
more or less in hers he has kept
up spirited conversation on movie
heroes or even politics, if he is one
of those men who will deign to dis
cuss politics with women. II she
likes the looks Of his hands and
nails, she will probably tell him SO,
because she is very appreciatlve OF
good material when she finds it.
His visit with her is over. She
has worked for him just as his ste
nographer, the elevator girl and the
girl in the candy shop may serve
him before the day is over. And yet
such is the attitude of the unthink-
ing world in general that girl who
pursues manicuring for her life pro-
fession is usually sensitive to its hos
tile feeling rand very quick to defend
her own position and that of her CO.
workers.
"Some people are really surprised
to find that we have home and 60
to it every night at E o'clock" said
one capable nlanicurist, the other
day. "They think we are gay,
wicked creatures who float around
without any family connections and
go to theater with different man
every night in the week. They would
be surprised to see US go home and
cook supper, sweep the kitchen and
darn stockings"
Young Men Have "Such Nails"
Although a inanicurist is not as
rule deep student of psychology
she has great opportunity to OBJ
serve the kinks and curves in human
nature. One noticeable thing about
men and manicuring, says one mani
curist, is that the majority of men
who come to be here are over 40.
young men have terrible nails"
she says, "they are very fussy about
their appearance otherwise, but such
finger nailsp They think they can
fool her about them, too, and say:
"Why, l don't know what makes
my nails look so bad, / had them
tended to week ago." when she
knows very we'll from the look of
the mans hand that he has not been
near a manicurist for a month.
Another well-worn excuse which
many men present to the manicurist,
is that they have been working on
their cars. If mans nails are
dirty or spotted or broken, it's be-
cause OF his automobile. And the
smaller the mans car the louder he
talks of the. trouble it causes him.
Nevertheless it seems to be true
that autos do a great deal to ruin
the hands of men who do not earn