Evening star., 1924-09-16
THIS AND THAT
BY c. f. TRACEWEI.I.

Ice. something or disgrace TO hu-
| manity and a reflection upon the
| Creator.
If anything has been left out, me
reader can put it in from his ,oun
| experience with the type. The
| touchy gentleman is not a murderer,
/ he just murders friendship and cord.A-
| ity.
| He does not steal, he just thisv>a
| away good will among men. wl1le
he would scorn arson, he is not at all
| adverse to setting others and himself
| afire with i'll considered words.
When il happens 10 be a woman
! who must be handled with kid glove
heaven help US all,
x K X =
! There are few homes which at some
time or other have not had i'll their
/ midst some one whose touchy nature
has made life almost unbearable.
| Nearly every office has at least one,
sometimes all employe, sometimes Il
boss. If the latter. the employees are
grouchy, taking their note from their
| superior. The astute, visiting an Of
/ 1ice. can tell what manner Of man IS
| in charge without ever seeing him.
/ The crowd is another place where
] the man with a chip on his shoulder
may be found. Even a base ball park
| has been known to harbor the shrimp.
| Since street car is nothing but i
/ little mob on wheels, il is not sur
/ prising that many persons who must
] be handled with pads are to be fouAI
! there daily.
| These people like 10 think OF then
! selves as Sensitive plants" who fs.f
more deeply than others, but as cold
/ matter of fact they generally ar,
! merely thin-skinned sufferers from
n inferiority complex even less thiuI
/ ly veiled.
! The amount of harm they intiict or
! others is entirely out of proportion
| to their worth. They ought to BE-
stopped, out of Difference to that noble
! thought, peace on earth, among meu
! of good will"
/, The commonest home type of the
| species is the respected relative who
/ tells every one else what to do, and
| how to do it. and If it is not done,
/ there is the dickens to pay.
! Such an estimable person-and Of
| ten he is very estimable in many ways
has to have more consideration
I than a king gets nowadays if there
| is to be any living with him.
| The most innocent remark he cal.
! construe into Il personal affront, 50
| perpetual state OF fear that they
( may "offend Uncle John"
Getting right down to Dawesiau
! brass tacks, there is not a darn rea
| son in the world why Uncle John
/ should not be offended good and hard.
| 1t would be bitter but good medicine
! for him.
| He has nasty habit, however. of
creating such an uproar when some
one, more daring than the rest, calls
| him TO book, that normally the Of
| fense is not repeated.
! Poor Uncle John must not be rub
bed the wrong way. He has an un-
| fortunate disposition, you know, and
! it is best to take cognizance Of it.,
| otherwise no telling what sort of q,
rampage he may go on Maybe
throw a book through the window,
or talk out real loud, attracting the
attention of neighbors.
| !: X
| Who is this Uncle John, in the name
of all that's holy. in family, that
| he should be treated with such
| deferenceo Isn't he man like til"
| rest of men, with perhaps more than
| the usual amount of failings? Has he
not. like Shakespeare's Shylock, III"
same organs, affections, feelings as
| the rest of uso
Yet every one wears padded kid
gloves of softest texture when deal
| ing with him. If he We're a gigantic
pussy cat, snarling when it is rubbed
| the wrong way, he could not be moro
| feared.
! What Uncle John really needs is =
| swift kick, or the ministrations of a
| big club, to take a bit of the conceit
out of him.
/ When he starts on a rampage every
! one else ought to show him how to do
it. If he hollers, the rest ought TO
holler louder. He should be led firm
! ly to a quiet corner, and there told
once and for all to cut out his non
sense.
There is little Louise, who is such
sweet child-until she decides to at
otherwise. Dressed in her little
| frock, she seems an angel fallen from
| heaven with her bright hair and blue
eyes.
You have to handle her with the OLD
| kid gloves, however, or she won't
play. Just let one little thing so to her
disliking and immediately she sets
up a howl that can be heard all over
the block.
| Maybe she found out, when baby.
! that the harder one screamed the
! quicker one got what one wanted.
Many loving mothers make that mis-
| take. Anyway, little Louise has not
/ forgotten.
Now, don't tease Louise, Bobby"
warns mother. She'll scream"
Yes. that is perhaps the best thing
Louise does.
| Many a good man has hampered
! his chances in an office by being
touchy. If he is what is known in
| some firms as a contact man"-a
| silly term-he rubs customers the
wrong way by his very attitude, to
! begin with, for there is something
about being thin-skinned that bctrays
| itself.
| When man is always on the look
out for sights to his dignity, he man
ages to find an astonishing number OF
/ them. 1t is in this as in many other
matters: until the attention is focused
! things happen that are not even no
| ticed.
1 suppose many persons have been
| bitten by pet cats, but not until a
| man died of the bite Of stray aileE
cat did such wounds attract atten
tion. Then one begins to hear about
others.
Being touchy, our friend gets
touched, and, being touched, he gets
all the moro tender. 1t is vicious
circle, one that has no beginning and
no end. The only thing to do with
| the poor fellow is hit him in the head
with a club and wait for him to come
| to his senses.
! In crowds and street cars tho
man who has to be handled with kid
| gloves always is having his toes
stepped on, both literally and f1gur-
ativeIy. If two look his way while
laughing, they are laughing at him.
! Certainly, In a car if a passenger