Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-11-30
DOROTHY DIX TALKS
BY DOROTHY DIX
An Unfair Bargain
Copyright, 1920, by the Wheeler syndi-
cate, Inc.

4 L
letters from girls who wall out that
during the past two or three, wears they
nave let some particul2~ youth monopolize
their time, and camp on their parlor chairs.
until he has driven all other beaux away.
and now he has loved and ridden away and
they are left lamentng.
My first impulse is to say to these desert
ed damsels "And it serves you jolly we'll
right, too" for any girl who has little
enough sense to burn all her matrimonial
bridges beh1nd her before she knows
whether she is reall headed for the Altar
or the Spinsters' Retreat, deserves to have
to wear the willow.
Of all the hard bargains that men drive
with women, none is so cruel and unfair as
that which prevails in certain circles, and
which is called keeping company"
By it young man cuts out some particu-
lar girl from the general herd, and puts his
brand on her. This gives him an option on
her time, and attention, and affections.
Wnlcn ne can take up, or not, as he chooses
She may not go out with another man, or
nave other men call upon her. At a party
she may not even dance with mother man
without the kind permission of her
STEADY"
by haunting his possessorship, he keeps
all other men away, and blocks the girls
chances for anyone else, but he does not
commit himself to anything definite, and
there is nothing to prevent him from quit
Certainly any girl who would enter into
that sort OF an arrangement with a man
ought not to be let loose in the world with
out a guardian for she takes all the risk
ana ne takes none. The love game, be-
tween men and women is one il which the
man has the advantage, anyway, but sure
ly woman should protect herself as far
as she can by refusing to play with marked
cards.
That men are tickle; that their fancies
roam from Hover to flower; that the hard
er 1t is to get woman the more they de-
sire her, and that nothing takes the edge
on their interest so quickly as does the
sense of proprietorship, are aAioms that it
is not necessary to repeat here. Every girl
baby cuts her teeth on these bromidic
truths, and how any daughter of Eve can
be reckless enough not to apply them to her
own case, passes all human comprehension
Nothing interests man quite so much
as to keep him guessing, and any woman
shows strange lack of perspicacity who
ever lets one find out what she really thinks
of him until she has got ON her wedding
ring. Also, competition is the life of senti-
mental trade as we'll as commercial, and the
more beaux girl has, and the harder it is
to make a date with her, the more anxious
every man is to do it.
Men distrust their own judgment of
woman, and like to have their opinion back
ed up by that of their fellows They like
to be seen out with popular girl and con-
slider it a triumph when they can take her
away from other men who desire her There
fore, woman seldom has just one admirer,
or one proposal of marriage She either has
many or none.
AS regards the attentions of men, girls
illustrate the Biblical precept concerning
the luck of the lucky. For unto her who
hath beaux, shall be given beaux even more
abundantly, and from her who hath but
one beau, shall be taken away even the
fCh h1f hotb A cod y,ho
nomenon, that you must have often OBJ
served when some poor Mabel's steady left
her in the lurch. when he joined the ranks
of the incense burners around the feet of
the new girl who had come to town.
Bearing these facts in mind, the prudent
maiden gives the cold rundown to any
young man who has the nerve to propose
to her to let him isolate her from the So
ciety of other men, and discount her chances
of marrying somebody else, while he takes
a couple Of years to try to decide whether
he likes her we'll enough to condescend to
MARI. her in the end.
Understand, my dear" he says in effect,
81 don't bind myself to anything at all by
this arrangement. Don't get it into your
pretty little head that there is some. sort of
a gentleman's agreement that / will make
good some time, for there's not anything of
the kind. l may get tired of you. l may
somebody l like better, in which case,
of course, I'm perfectly free to follow my
new fancy, LOT we're not even engaged.
See?"
And if the girl doesn't see she's binder
than any bat. If she can see, her youth and
freshness gone while she waited. She can
see herself cut down to one man, who takes
her out or not, as he happens to feel She
can see herself tyrannzed over, and brought
to book, much jealous husband could
do, by man who doesn't have to pay her
bills. And if she looks hard enough, and
far enough into the future, she can general
ly see herself left forlorn, WREN her steady
proves unsteady and goes off to greener
fields and newer pastures.
Don't play any such confidence games,
girls, with any man. Don't narrow your
chances down to one bet. Never let any
man monopolize your society until he is
ready to name the wedding day.
When he asks you to keep ct mpany with
him, tell him that he will be welcome among
the crowd, and you will file his application
on your waiting list Don't throw yourself
away on a man whose attentions are with
out intention. Men take women at their
own valuation, and the higher the price, the
more they value them. It's the girl who
holds herself so cheaply that she throws
herself on the bargain counter for
man to take or leave, who in the end gen
orally gets left.