Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-08-17
WORKING GIRL WHO
HELPS At THE HOME
BY SOPHIE IRENE. LOEB

weeks I have been reading over the
histories Of various families, and
have been in touch with mothers,
and there is one thing upon which
there should be considerable reflec-
tion-the girl who works and what
she does to help at home.
One mother told her story some.
thing like this: IT cannot get my
girls to contribute enough to the
home. There is a perpetual argu-
ment about it and sometimes L am
in great despair. My daughters both
work in offices. They say they have
to look we'll and spend most Of their
money on clothes.
eat first they gave me consider
able money, even when they were
making less than they do now. They
need this and that and the other
thing, and somehow or other they
seem to think that I can manage on
any amount I have on which to run
the home.
''They have no realization Of the
worries and anxieties and the sleep
less nights I spend in my great en-
deavor to make ends meet, and at
the same time I do want to see them
have the things they want. 1t is
only natural"
Rut 7 wish these girls could have
seen the sorrowful look and the
anxious mien Of this mother as L
talked with her-torn between her
duty to her daughters and her strug-
gle with sordid things. l sometlmes
wonder that such young women
would not better sacrifice something
and save the splendid soul OF her
who went down into the valley Oh
the shadow Of death to bring them
here. , :. +Lo low
of balances. I believe that good oniy
comes to you when you give gooo III
eo,1al measure. Whether it is psy..
choloey or not, it works out IN real
practice, and perhaps one or the
most important Of the ten comnan I
ments is, Honor they father ana my
mother" o,., saan
At any rate, have rarely seen
It to miss that the girl VINO tnoueLt
only of herself, or OF herseL IlrS'
where her mother was concerlleu'
was not overtaken by Nemesis ~
some form or other. perhaps !ne
very fine dress you are "earInS 8
made YOUR mother Work Ihours aIio
hours more than she should ta&Ins
her strength and shortening ne
days. And while it may De nan,
neved, it is still forever the 49,.
that YOU never miss tnat nlo'Ae1
until she is no longer mere. a.,
Oh, yes, there are many seliIs 10,
Girls who take all and give notnlhS
There are young women VINO thlllh
that because they have at last a.
rived at the state where 'ney can
l. earn their own living and make the!r
own way, they have done merVel,
ous thing and are entitled 10 an
thew earn. There is no greater lol'
ly. ,,,,ooo
Again it might seem commonplace
to plead that you can never repay
YOUR parents for what they nave
done and that they do not want 10
he repaid-not in that sense. But 70
me there is something really lacking
of fine spiritual purpose in the young
woman who will spend her money
on herself and permit her mCtne" tC
worry about keeping the home 60
| ing.
| The woman worthwhile, the WON
an who amounts to something, the
woman who becomes the big woman
and the noble soul, is she who thinks
first of the trials and tribulations OF
that mother, and meets her neeos
as far as it is possible.
| Better to have a gewgaW less and
| instead gladden. the heart OF your
| mother. Better to dress more mod
estly. and in such garb feel that
| some one dear might have suffered
| had you spent more.
| Perhaps you do not think about it,
but the great satisfaction that comes
| with the knowledge that you have
given up something in the interest
of that mother who will times with
out number give you more joy and
more lasting happiness than the
mere citation of wearing apparel tn 1T
| has been purchased at the expense
| of conscience. After all, there is
nothing so expensive AS conscience.
You pay the uSuriOus interest
some way, somehow, some time, for
the thing that you have done which
you know is not what you should
do. Especially is this the case if it
is the mother who suffers.
If only thousands of young wom-
en- could be made to understand how
wrong it is carelessly to wave aside
the worries of a mother and do what
they please-if only they could real
" put themselves in that mother S
place, in the battle she must wage
daily, they would think long before
they gave her so meagre return of
their labors, which, after all, have
been made possible through the