The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1921-02-18
THE SOFT ANSWER.

The pretty young girl who waits
on me at little restaurant l fire.
quent, was very much perturbed.
Red spots of excitement burned on
her cheeks. Her eyes were full of
unshed tears. Her hands shook as
she put my food before me.
What is the natter" 1 asked.
"oh," she said, her voice trem-
bling with passion. Il have just had
a run-in with the head waitress
was late this morning and in a
hurry, and 1 got another girls
apron, and she bawled me out about
il. ] didn't take anything OFF her,
and 1 told, her some things. she
won't forget in a hurry. wouldn't
your"
No" 1 said, 81 should have said
something to her that would have
made her feel so small, and cheap
and unladylike. that it would have
made her sorry she spoke to me as
she did"
Gee" exclaimed the girl hope
fully. what, would you have said
to her when she got after you about
a thing that was an accident, that
might have happened to anybody
who was in a hurry"
Il should have told her" ] said.
that knew she had a perfect
right TO scold me for my careless
ness in making the mistake. and
that ] was sorry for it, and that ]
wouldn't let it happen again"
The girl thought a moment. and
then she said graveIy, well, !
guess that would have held her for
while. Scrappy thing she is. AL
ways looking for a fight"
"Right-o." l replied. The soft
answer pot only turns away wrath.
but nothing else leaves your enemy
so completely at a disadvantage
There's nothing more that you can
say to those who admit their faults
and regret them"
Just try it the next time anyonc
assails you. and see how foolish il
makes them feel and look. They
could match tempers with you
They could pit anger against anger
and hurl invectivcs and abuse, per.
haps with a reader thought and q
deadlier aim than you can, but they
are helpless before you when yol
arc master of your own temper
when you oppose their force witt
gentleness, and when you NEE
their coarse abuse with the re
strained speech of a lady.
Somehow the soft answer Away!
puts the angry one into the wrong
You may richly deserve the scold
ing you are getting, but IL you will
| ~ :,
your due, and not furiously justify
yourself. you will invariably finC
| that the offended one begins L
backwater, and ends up by making
more excuses for you than yoI
would have dared to offer yourself
There is nothing else in the worlc
so true as that it takes two e
make a quarrel. Somebody mus
add fuel to the FIRE of your anger
or else it goes out. 1t takes the
clash of antagonistic points of view
to make an argument interesting
enough to go on with. You can
put any pep into your abuse of ar
individual who admits the Justice
of your criticism, and asks youl
advice about how to profit by youl
superior wisdom.
| Ana mere Is "neTe inc SOL
answer gets in it's fine work. Yol
can fight those who fight you. You
can curse those who curse you. YoJ
can get even with those who do yol
bad trick. But you are helpless
before those who are gentle, anC
reasonable, and anxious not to of
fend you. All you can do is to b.
ashamed, of yourself, and be gooC
| friends with them.
Haven't you seen things like this
An angry customer comes charging
into a shop, claiming that she ha'
been robbed, and the wrong good
sent to her, and that she is goinG
| to sue for damages, and never bu!
| a nickel's worth in that store agar
as long as she lives. One of tive
things happens. She gets hold o
clerk who meets her abuse will
abuse, an dtells her that she is |
welcher who buys one thing anC
wants to bring it back and eX
| change it for something else, ant
that she is liar. and a tightwad
and the store doesn't want suCl
trade as hers, and the woman goet
away angrier than ever, and tn,
store makes an enemy and loses 1
patron.
Or the furious woman is taken il
I