Omaha daily bee., 1920-03-14
What Qualities Do
Women Have,
Men Ask

pliers have said, have way witt,
them, ! have often noticed it-partic-
ularly in stores.
Women know how to shop. Men
don't. ! used to believe the comic
paper jokes about women's going
from place to place, and not buying
anything. don't any more. | have
seen them at their work, and l know
that eventually, if not right at the
moment, they do buy something, and
buy what they want. And they
usually get it at the price they in
tended to pay when they set out.
And my experience is still fresh
in my mind.
It happened that the household
was out of lettuce, and, its general
I manager being otherwise employed,
was sent out to get it.
Don't get any of that slazy.
faded lettuce" ] was told. Feel
the heads yourself. Peel off the
outer leaves, and see whether they
are large and firm before you buy
them"
! had seen this done when carry
ing parcels for the general manager,
and / supposed it could be accom-
plished without difficulty.
] went into a vegetable market
near by. The proprietor was
busy, for which I was grateful. |
wanted to feel the lettuce, as i'll
structed, but didn't have the nerve
to do it before his eyes.
In bin close at hand were 10 or
IS heads. punched one of them
tentatively. 1t seemed to yield to
my prodding finger.
= Picking it up after further
slance at the proprietor, / divested
! it OF one OF its outer leaves.
But l wasn't quick enough.
The proprietor left the customer
on whom he was waiting and leaped
TO to my side.
IL. "You buya?" he inquired, lower
ing at rle. r.,
''l--I'm not sure; l wanted to see
it it was good"
"You spoila. You buya."
His aspect was menacing. /
boughta. ...
/ | also bought two others, wholly
1 on ocular evidence that they were
] sound
When ! got home I found that
they were not sound. | found fur
ther that far better lettuce could be
bought for Is cents a head, and that
it was perfectly ridiculous to let an
ignorant dealer scare you out of
your wits when, if you had the least
bit'of courage, you could make him
give you the kind of lettuce you
wanted at reasonable price.
A few days thereafter l had to go
to the butchershop to get porter
house steak of about three pounds,
cut thick, with considerable fat and
large tenderloin.
At the butchershop | found the
steaks, already cut, under a glass
counter, where / could not get my
hands of them.
I had been told not to get one OF
these, but to insist on having one cut
from the large hunk that hangs
somewhere back in the ice box.
II want" 7 said. "a porterhouse
steak, of about three pounds, cut
thick, with considerable fat, and
large tenderloin."
The butcher reached under the
case, drew out a thin, rangy steak
and slapped it before me.
81 should prefer to have one cut
I said.
"This is cut, amt it,"
"I mean out of the bigger piece"
"This wan was cut off the biggest
piece in the cow"
i mean one OF those in the ice
box"
"There amt no more in the ice
box. Will yez have this wan?"
Il don't think So"
"All right" and back it went into
the case.
"But want steak"
"Well, didn't I show yez
steak?"
"But want a."
"'Twas good steak. Take it or
leave it."
'ss took it.
It did not prove satisfactory when
/ arrived home with it.
Ny explanations were received
eoldly. At last l got mad and sug-
Rested that it was the best steak to
Be had, and that anybody would have
taken it.
The general manager put on her
hat and coat a nd departed down
The street. She returned with "por-
terhouse steak of about three
pounds, cut thick, with considerable
fat and large tenderloin."
! don't know how she did it. If
/ did ! would do the same thing
myself next time.
But to hope to do so is idle.-James
]. Montague in Chicago Daily News.