The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1922-07-14
summer students. :

summer students.
"In vacation time the inhibitions of
the everyday environment are broken
down. For several weeks the paltry
details and limiting realities of daily
life are cast aside. The ribbon clerk
and stenographer pose in roles that
come nearest to expressing their Sc
cret aspirations. We must not judge
the pretentions of the seashore too
harshly, because the pretenders are
merely succumbing to their daydream-
ing propensity. Because of the time
and the place they dream out loud.
Many an o. Henry story is re-enacted
when the pseudo broker discovers the
pseudo-heiress to be shop girl on
leave and she finds her hastily Melted
catch to be an aspiring shipping
clerk"
We toll and sweat and scheme for
money because the size of our stack
Of chips is ocular proof of our super
Tor playing ability in the game Of life.
Whatever our aim in life may be on
the surface, when expressed in terms
of its least common denominator, it
is qualification of our self-esteem by
winning the esteem or exciting the en-
Wy of our fellows.
We can attain the satisfaction of
differentiation in three different ways.
We can create and produce; we can
"kid" ourselves; or we can four-fiush.
We all harbor certain more or less
grandiose illusions about ourselves.
They give us subjective satisfaction
equivalent to that derived from hav-
ing "the real goods" just as miser
might gloat over hoard of money,
part of which is counterfeit.
But, after all, our self-respect de-
ponds on the respect others have for
US. Unless we are insane, our self
appreciation must rest on at least a
foundation of genuine social approval.
The crazy man is happy in imagining
he is Napoleon. j. P. Morgan or Henry
Ward Beecher, but the normal person
cannot satisfy his vanity by cherish
ing such extreme decisions. His ma
ture demands applause from the gal
leries of the crowd instead Of merely
from the back-stage of his own mind.
Achievement is the royal road to
eminence, but the four-fusher tries
to reach that objective by side-alley.
The "have-nots" can go A. W. o. L.
from the Coxey's army or nobodies
and sneak over to the camp of the
who's Who" crowd by the back road
Of pretense
The habitat of the four-husher is
the modern city. You will find him
most numerous in the lobby of the
large hotel. He is the product of our
pecuniary standards Of living. A good
buffer is entitled to some respect. He
plays his game with finesse and skill
The four-flusher is merely an example
of the vulgarization of our social
ideals.
If there were Nobel prize for four
flushing, think should nominate for
the honor a drug clerk who dispenses
pills and sodas in pharmacy near
Columbia University in New York. To
his acquaintance the debonair clerk is
known as Count. There is no doubt
of his aristocratic birth, because he
can show envelopes addressed to him
from Hungary which, bear his title.
This is only one Of his many ex-
PLOTS. Count had park-bench ac-
quaintance who was caretaker for a
rich mans pleasure boat, which was
anchored in the Hudson River, near
Grants Tomb. The owner was alb
sent for some weeks and left orders
that under no circumstances was the
boat to be run while he was away
Count bribed the caretaker to let him
bring an occasional friend aboard,
Count was lady killer par excellence
Whenever he scraped up an acquaint-
ance with typical Manhattan fappe1
he would begin by telling of his noble
lineage, allude to his wealth and wind
up with mention of his yacht.
Wouldn't you like to take trip tc
Tarrytown in my yacht this after
noon?" was his supreme stroke. The
maiden, finding the dreams founded
on years of Sunday newspaper reading