Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-04-23
DOROTHY DIX TALKS
THE DIFFERENCE
CORRESPONDENT writes.
BY DOROTHY DIX
Sometimes you speak of


ness women sometimes as working girls
What is the difference between business
woman and a working girl?"
All the difference in the world, my dear
The difference between business woman and
working girl is the difference between a
career and a job. 1t is the difference be-
tween the one who works with her gaze fixed
on the future, and one who works with her
eye on the clock. 1t is the difference be-
tween the one who mulls over the problem
she IS engaged in, and the one who chews
gum. It's the difference between the women
VINO get there, and those who never arrive
anywhere.
A business woman is one who has def
mite purpose in mind. When she starts to
work she has goal before her TO which she
steers. She may start oGc as cash girl In
store, but she means to be high-priced
buyer and go to Paris twice year. She may
begin stamping envelopes in an Office but she
is determined some day to sit in the chair
by the boss mahogany desk and take his die.
tation as his highly-paid private secretary.
The working girls only aim in life is to
rope some man into being her meal ticket,
All jobs, and all work, look alike to her be-
cause they are just a stop-gap until the
blessed hour arrives when she can get mar
ried and as she fondly hopes, sit down on the|
do-nothing stool for the balance of her life.
She has no ambitions that go farther than
new sports suit and crepe de chine lingerie.
She has no aspirations except to have beaux|
and a good time.
The business woman knows that it Is only
brains that count in business, and she makes|
herself as sexless as a piece of Office furni-|
| ture. She is as neat, and tidy, and well.I
groomed as possible, because pleasing ap.|
pearance is valuable asset to every human|
being, but she banks on her good work to|
| get her the advantages she wants. She does
mot expect to win them by her feminine ap-|
peal.
The working girl plays up her sex for allI
| it is worth. She wears Georgette blouses and
lhigh-heeled slippers to work, and spends more,
| time powdering her nose than she does atj
! labor. She languishes ever mems desks, and
| always has to hare somebody sharpen herr
| pencils, or put on her typewriter ribbons, orr
lift heavy books for her. or do something
else that will show how pretty and helpless
she is, and how in need Of a strong arm toS
support her. She rolls her eyes at her boss
and tries to make Irritation take the place OF
knowing how to spell, and punctuate, and
| add up figures.
The business woman is always thinking on
her work. Consciously or subconsciously ID
| is always with ler, and she Is eternally try-{
| ing to learn more about it. If she Is stenog1
rapher she gets more and more accurate day
| by day. She takes on herself more and moro
duties until the time comes when she has all
the strings of the office in her hands, and he4I
employer turns as naturally to ask her the
details of every 4~ansaction, or where certain,
papers are, as he does to ask his wife al
home where he will find his collar or the
| tack hammer.
| If she is a salesgirl, she studied her line Of
| goods until she knows everything about it
and she makes herself so agreeable to her cus1
toners and takes SO much trouble to find;
them what they want, that the time soon
comes when fat old ladies with big pocket
books will wait half an hour to have that
nice Miss Smith wait on them.
| The working girl has no interest whatevel|
in her occupation, exce-t to get her pay el-i
velope on Saturday night. She doesn't know
anything about what she In trying to do, and
she doesn't want to learn anything about itI
Whenever her boss complains about the mis3
takes she makes, she calls him an old grouch}
and cries, or gets mad, according to her tem-}
permanent, but it never occurs to her to int
prove the quality of her service.
Her interest in life lies outside OF he4
sphere of labor. She gets through the morn
ings as best she can, waiting for the moor
hour in which she can call up some gentle{
man friend" or else wait for him to call her.
up Even during working hours she is mum1
bling to the girl next to her what she said, 4
and TT said," and "she said," or telling what
perfectly grand time she had with some.
swell fellow the night before, and she has
to be detached from these fascinating remit
niscences before she can give her self-hearted
; ttention to the letter she is trying to writeN
| or the customer who desires to buy heH
wares.
The business woman is willing to pay the
price of success. She knows that for women
as we'll as for men, success comes high, and
it must be bought not only with labor. blu {
with faithfulness, and loyalty, and reliability
Therefore she is no time-server. Office hours
mean nothing to her, for her work ends wherN
the days labor is accomplished and her desiG
cleared. She comes early and goes late. She Z
does faithfully and we'll every task that fall
into her Hands, so that her harassed employer
does not have to go over her work to catch
up her mistakes. She does not babble OF neT
| firms affairs. The souls OF those above heF
rest in peace when she is on the job, because
they know that it will be- done properly and
promptly.
The working girl begrudges every minute
that she gives to her employer. She should
worry whether her work is done well or Ill
1t is nothing in her young life IL she bills 8
| shipment OF goods that was destineq toN
Portland, Me-, to Portland, Ore, and II sh%
gets fired for incompetence, she doesn,t care
She can get another cheap job somewnerq
else She doesn't want to work anyhow, ant
she's only DOR q it while she's trying 20 nun
down a man to work for her.
The number of business women Is verT
small. and they are very well paid, and II
great demand, because when woman give
her mind, and her heart, and her interest "a
business she develops superlative talen
| for it. But there are many working girls VINE
c1rn little, because they are worth little
| Every woman who starts out to earn ne
| living. decides for herself to which class sh%
will belong
OUIPS AND OUIDDITIES.