Evening star., 1924-08-09
THIS AND THAT
BY O. e. TRACEwELL.

to his work.
Sometimes it is hard for a man to
believe this, and. Therefore, to be
willing to accept each person he
meets for what he Is, but until he
learns t. do so he will find more
misery than joy in the world.
On every side one sees unhappi-
ness, much of 1t caused by the in
ability Of the abused person to be
content with men and women as he
finds them. He looks for the tran
scendent, and, not finding it, is ag-
grieved.
He has his own ideas of mankind
which he would conform
the rest of humanity. Unfortunate
ly for him, humanity refuses to
conform.
Can 1T be possible, then, that these
men and women of all ages. colors
and conditions whom one meets
every day have anything at all about
them resembling fairy tale?
Is yon villainous looking fellow,
sitting easily on the side of the load
ed watermelon wagon at Tenth and
d streets in any sense a work snow
ing ought of the fingers of God? :?
1t is hard to believe, at first blush,
50 gross, unkempt he appears, so
wide is his leer and uncouth his ap
pearance.
Accepting him as watermelon
man, however, he does very well. AS
a drawing room occupant he would
be distinctly out of place, but the
most critical will have to admit that
he blends in nicely with his wagon.
a IL fvs n
price of his melons, perhaps he an
swers us abruptly. with a chip neat
ly balanced upon each shoulder. Ger
tainly the suave storekeeper would
not talk SO.
This is not a suave shop man. This
is a watermelon man, just in from
the country, where contact with eIe-
mental things teaches no particular
lessons Of courtesy. 1t would be as
fair to ask him to give a talk on art
as to require Of him, even mentally.
that he be any other man in the
world except himself.
Here comes a pieman. The modern
city pieman is a different fellow from
the folklore pastryman met my Sim
pie Simon on the way to the fair.
A modern pieman is a tail. lean,
straight fellow, with curly crisp
black hair, a detected countenance and
trousers of ample cut, judging from
this one. In his strong right hand he
bears a portable cupboard of pies,
each confection arranged on sliding
shelf.
The edges of the pies, in their
stack, appear through the openings,
restaurant. There he turns them over
to the counterman.
The counterman, in his own right,
is an interesting chap. Do not ex-
pect him to be cabinet member.
cups 20 of coffee, ham sandwiches,
hot dogs. glasses Of milk.
Western sandwiches. pancakes, fried
eggs, scrambled eggs, egg sand
witches, soup, beef, ice cream, pies,
cake and other edibles to the hungry
males that besiege his counter three
times a day.
If his. crude humor is not exactly
to yourSliking. remember that his is
a perfect example of just that sort
of humor.
What a queer bird. that tourist,
with his google eyes and his fat
stomach! He has come to look Wash
ington over. Tomorrow night he will
leave town declaring that sit is purity
nice, but not so wonderful" Do not
feel put out. He is one Of type.
If you are of nervous tempera-
ment, this passing small boy, crack
ing his fingers at every step, will
cause you annoyance. Yet he is a
perfect American small boy, so be
tan shoes he Is all American.
These three tall girls, now-it is
not so hard to accept them for what
they are! Not even the grouchiest
person would wish them other than
what they are.
Women, as a rule. hold themselves
much better than men. Their shoul-
ders are carried better, their heads
held more naturally. One seldom sees
a woman poking her head forward,
as hundreds of men do.
+
That girl over there with the mean,
pig eyes, what can be said for her?
Well, she is somebody's sister. as
the saying is, and in addition is as
fine a specimen of her sneering type
as one will meet in a days walk. We
have met her already-how nice of
her to save us walk.
Nobody pleases her, that much is
evident upon casual inspection. She
is the unfortunate possessor of a
discontented mind, not a mind un-
happy over great wrongs, but one
seeing only the superficial side Of
every one. Her reactions to others
are narrowly based. sitting easily
upon a sneer. 1t is so easy to sneer.
And who can refute a sneer"? This
bad habit grows upon one, until at
last it has complete possession of
the sneerer. But Thackery said, ut
t. L. IN, Of
ciety, not to be sometimes snob.'
Most people are utterly undistin-
guished in appearance, it appears
from watching men and women as
they pass and repass upon our
streets. Yet they are no less human
beings for all that.
This old lady waiting for street
car is a dead ringer for William Jen-
nings Bryan! Something about the
face and eyes is responsible for that
look of the so-called Peerless One.
In Offices, shops and streets one will
meet disagreeable people. There is
no getting away from them. This is
the fate of all those who do not en-
JOY wealth or some other form of
power. The wealthy man meets fewer
people, because such per-
sons put themselves out to be agree
able to him.
Since the average man simply can
not get away from the littleness OF
his fellows, and must expect to bump
up against the sordid, the petty and
utterly unworthy and trivial all the
days Of his life, having no acres OF
his own that he can wall in to keep
them out, it behooves him to culti-
vate q kindly spirit.
This requires that action so magic
in many situations-a decentraliza-
ton Of the individual, the ability to
take ones mind off ones precious
self, and let it look fairly at others.
Add the saving grace of humor, and
one is in q fair way to taking the
world as he finds it. To snort at a
humble bee because he has a sting is
like inveighing against the lily be-