Omaha daily bee., 1920-03-14

. .hich Kind
Of a Guest
Are You?

At a special gathering OF "just
ladies" during the past week the
subject of guests in the home
came up for discussion. 1t was
agreed that we are glad to see some
people come and glad to see others
60.
Said one woman whom we all
know, (shc has high regard for her
furniture): Last year invited two
girls whose mother was i'll to spend
their school holiday with me. Never
again!
Little Margaret was J, her sister,
Mary, 13. My mahogany table bears
a reminder of little Margie, for the
dear child carefully traced out the
English alphabet with nice sharp
pin. Twice | corrected the little girl
for this, but Margaret had never
learned obedience and became de-
cidedly defiant. :
There were only a few things to
eat that the children liked. These
were among expensive, hardto-get
foods and usually quiet unsuited to
a child. They had been pampered
to death at home and their anemic
little bodies were typical of what
happens when child is allowed to
select its food"
y just love to have May visit
me-" remarked another woman,
whose many household cares keep
her from visiting very often. Yet
her face lighted up at the very
thought of Mays coming.
May is a bachelor girl. She lives
in tiny apartment all by herself.
She is always glad when one of her
married friends calls her up to
spend weekend. And what makes
May such a desirable guest?
She is the sort of girl who breezes
into your house with smile 'and
the word praise you were not ex-
pecting. <You might be feeling a
bit blue about your health and
at Just this moment May would
blow in with her why, Sally, you're
looking younger than ever-suppose
you're losing so much weight
why. you've gotten right down to
the old girlish figure again"
And Immediately you feel stronger
and you feel yourself pinning up the
stray locks and as you hustle about
TO get Nav a bite of supper. you
find yourself chatting about every
thing under, the sun. from new hats
to favorite movie stars. May has
a psychological effect on you wheth'
er you know it or not. She is al
ways part of your household. You
never have to especially plan for
her. If you have beef-why, it's
iust the kind of meat she loves and
if you have fish-why she likes it
better than any meat in the world.
Your window sills may be dusty
There may be a dozen different
things awry in your home. But
May knows how difficult it is to
keep everything just so-especially
when ones health is not up to
scratch. And when you attempt to
excuse your little laxities in house
keeping, May assures you with
smile that you keep house wonder
fully we'll and she is not sure she
could do half so we'll if she had
such darling kiddies to play with.
Then there is the man guest. We
like the man who can adapt him
self to our mode of living. The
jolly fellow who smiles at break
fast and has !. pleasant word be-
fore retiring dor the night. We like
the guest who does not forget to
show his appreciation by recipro-
eating.
A bachelor spent a week in the
apartment of friends we had known
down south. The young wife and
her husband did everything in their
power to make it pleasant for their
guest. Yet this young bachelor
made absolutely no effort at recipro-
eating.
Reciprocating is really more a
matter of spirit than of expense.
A simple little letter sincerely ex-
pressing ones gratitude would have
these good people that
their guest appreciated their ef-
forts in his behalf. Yet that letter
never came. Nor did few flowers
from the florist. nor an invitation
to the theater ever come from this
thoughtless guest.
Having guests, or being guest,
can be among the very sweet
things of life. And the guest we
like is the one apparently in SYM
pathy with our mode of living. The
guest we like never enters into our
homes with a supercilious manner.
The guest we like reciprocates.