Evening star., 1925-03-03

among his fellows, IT does not mucn
matter what he passes for at home
before his wife and children.
X X
All fools have still an itching 10 deride,
And fain would be upon the Laughing side.
The laughing side of humanity
seems to include the major portion or
1t, at least in this country. 1t is i'm
possible for two or three men to
gather together anywhere without be-
ginning to kid" one of their number.
Women seem freer from this blight.
Some chance remark, some innocent
statement, is seized upon for the at
tack. One follows suit until all are
involved In the affair. Minutes, even
hours, are consumed this way.
Ask any man who has been through
college, especially If he has lived in
fraternity house. The Kidding"
goes with it and is supposed to be a
mark of character.
you have got to get used to it,"
the wise seniors tell the youngsters
that have just been Spiked" Yes,
you do have to get used to It! That
Is the trouble. And, what is more,
you have to spend the rest OF your
life getting used to 1t, unless
But more of that later. The excep-
tion Will be explained in the conclu-
sion of this article. The average man
does have to get use to kidding"
For II is In the grain of human nature,
seemingly, because 1t Is a species of
meanness-and meanness, whether
one cares to admit II or not, Is in
grained in humanity.
All kidding" Is founded on the
mean streak in US. We like to poke
fun at others because It satisfies the
mean streak. Analyze any bit of
Kidding you may hear, 1t can be
traced back to some mean trait in the
"kidder."
often joshing the other fellow de-
soends to remarks upon his person
and his personal habits. Though it
is contemplate, we arc so used to 1t
that ordinarily 1t does not SO strik e
US. We have allied ourselves with
the laughing side so long we have
become partner in crime.
X
Divorced OF all the jollity of good
fellowship" this eternal poking fun
at others resolves itself into its prim-
ttive meanness.
Its first cousin is the "Haw, haw"
that arises when some poor cuss slips
on a banana peel and strikes the
ground with g. resounding thump.
Its second cousin Is the slap-stick
of the burlesque stage, where the ap-
plication Of a plank to the sitting
portion OF humanity is always good
for a big laugh.
kidding" in It's usual aspects is
simply a mental paddle applied Wig
orously to the human species In the
place IT hurts most-the mind.
The rankle left by indiscriminate
Kidding is a real hurt, whether one
carefully conceals it or not. 1t is re-
sponsible for more poor work in bust
ness, more ill-feeling in homes and
more failures in school than is com
monty realized. 1t helps fill the di-
vorce courts.
1t is petty. It harkens back to the
childhood OF all of US, when we got
huge satisfaction out of screaming
some silly rhyme at some poor, mem
tally unbalanced old woman.
Above all, IL is cowardly For as
soon as man comes into money or
makes a success out OF himself in
some other way he is "kidded" no
longer.
The successful head Of a business is
never "kidded." He is taken seri-
ously.
But the rest OF the hands sit around
and josh each other every day, never
realizing that by induIging in this
vicious habit they are holding each
other back.