The Washington herald., 1920-07-21
COMPANY VS.. HOME FOLKS.

The small boy had sinned the
ever-besetting sin of childhood. He
had spotted the tablecloth. His
mother reproved him sharply and
sent him, shamed and crushed, from
the room.
why don't you treat me like I
was company" walled the little cul-
prit, why don't you tell me that
it doesn't make a bit of difference.
and not to mention it, as you did
to Mr.. Sniff last night when he
spilled his coffee?"
The mother tried to camouf1age
her sense of guilt by saying sternly
That will do, Benny. / don't want
any impertinence from you" and the
balance of US kept our abashed eyes
on our plates. None Of US dared
look his neighbor in the face for
all of US knew that we fell under
the child's unconscious condemna-
tion.
None of US could answer Benny's
riddle: Why do we not treat those
near and dear to US. those whose
happiness lies in our hands, with
the kindness, the courtesy, the for
bearance we show TO the stranger?
None of US could say why We are
more tender of the feelings of a
chance acquaintance than we are
of the susceptibilities Of those OF
our own household.
We only know that we are. and
that none of US would dream of say
ing the brutal things to outsiders
that we say to our own families.
No woman speaks to her chauffeur
or her butler as she does to her
husband No man hands the cook
the same uncensored criticism OF
her bread that he does to his wife.
No employer vents his impatience on
his stenographers and clerks in the
unbridled way he does upon his
daughters.
If men and women treated each
other before marriage as they do
afterward there would never be an
other wedding. but they don't. Be-
fore marriage they treat each other
as il they were company. They
fatter each other; they defer TO each
others opinion; they listen enrap-
turcd to each other. The woman
makes the man believe that he is
hero and an oracle in her eyes.
The man convinces the woman that
| he regards her as the embodiment
Of every feminine charm and grace.
1t is to get this admiring audi
ence. with the perpetual glad hand,
that people marry. A man takes
upon himself a woman's board bill
and shopping ticket to secure to
himself the society OF the one hu-
man being he has ever met who can
properly appreciate him. The wom-
an comes in out of society, or bust
N Kitchen
that she may have the continuous
happiness of listening to a man
whose greatest joy is in singing her
praises.
And then-BIooey! each finds the
other took off his or her company
manners with the wedding clothes
and that whatever virtues the other
may possess, politeness and common
courtesy are not among them.
For it is sadly true that the aver
age family consideration Tor the
feelings of those OF the household
is no more for everyday use tnah
the best china and the hand-em-
broidered doilies.
In proof whereof take Exhibit A,
wherewith most OF us are all TOO
familiar.
! Mrs. Y is going to have company
| to dinner. She goes upon an orgy
| of house cleaning until everything
| shines like a new pin. The table IL
immaculate. The dinner cooked TO
| perfection. for Mrs. y. is a master
cook when she turns her hand TO
lii. Mrs. Y herself is charming in a
becoming frock.
But when there is nobody but the
family. Mrs. Y let's the house go at
hn 70 q
soiIed, and she slams any old un-
appetizing food in any old way on
the table. 1t is too much trouble
to put in the dash of papriks that
| turns hash into goulash, or TO give
the little touch that changes the
poor meal into a good one, just for
home folks. And Mrs. y herself is
frowsy and cross because she doesn't
waste her charming clothes and per-
sonality on just husband and the
children.
And Mr.. X doesn't treat Mrs. x
as if she were company. either.
II he were dining with Mrs. Q he
would praise Mrs. Q's cooking TO
the skies and tell her how beau
tiful she was looking. and he would
make himself an agreeable and
charming companion.
But at home Mr.. x gobles down.
without q word of praise. the dainty
dishes his wife may have spent
hours in preparing. He never no
tIces how she looks. and he sits
up so silent and glum behind his
paper Of an evening that she might
as well be married to a stone efngy
of Crouch so far as any CONVEX
sation Is concerned. One would be