Evening star., 1925-09-16
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

+ What curious times for going tc
work you have in Washington" ex
claimed the visitor.
What do you mean?" asked his
friend.
We'll, notice so many people or
the streets in the morning at sos
o'clock, 8:35 o'clock and at s:o5 o'clock
The Washingtonjan smiled.
Those are thS people who are
late" he answered. They should be
getting in at o'clock, $50 o'clock
and at 9 o'clock. but an unkind fate
and bum alarm clock throw them
bit behind time"
Certainly this thing of being late
Is among the most interesting phe
nomena to be found in a great city
If we regard workers as incipient
Hamlets, each one strutting his stuff
we must change the famous soliloQuy
to begin. ITO be on time or late" etc
Whether IT is worth while to get
up Is minutes earlier in order to pass
under the wire before the bell rings
or to end it all by solemnly being
late to work morning after morn
Well that d scarcely a question
with many at our wage earners
Being late to work comes as natural
to them as breathing, closer than
hands and feet. From the way they
go on. an investigator from the moon
could come to no other conclusion
than that being little late is neces
sary to their happiness.
If they are supposed to report for
duty at 8 O'Clock, these boys and
girls will show up at SOL. or sos, or
$40 o'clock.
Never at o'clock on the dot-or
before.
Similarly. IL the time for the gain
fully occupied to put in appearance
Is fixed at $50 am. by the big clock
some Of them invariably will present
themselves at the back door at 8:31
S:33, 8:35, $40. etc.
If they do not have to sign up un
til 9 o'clock. 1t Is a sure bet with the
weather wise that some Of them will
never afflx their signatures to the pass
book until 9:01, 9:02, 500. 9O5. OIL
$40, etc.
In considering this phenomenum, one
may be forgiven for approaching 1,
from the standpoint Of the hurrying
workers, rather than the employers
The employers can easier stand the
theoretical loss Of service than the EN-
ployes themselves can the sloppy men
tai attitude involved.
After all, is not the mental atti
tude the biggest thing in life?
"As man thinketh in his heart
so is he," says the Bible, with a
startling realization of all that modern
science has been able to find out to
Gate as to the workings of the hu-
man mind.
"As a man thinketh, so Is he" is q
preferable modern reading. We will
leave out for the nonce the reference
to the heart. since the ancients had
some rather hazy ideas as to, the in.
ner workings Of this complex mechan.
ism known variously as the body
of man" and the Temple of God"
As You think, so you are then
and as you are, so IS your think-tank
to reverse the saying, which works
both waEs. just as easy!
Being late to work is, as previously
stated in this column, a bad habit
But it is more than that. 1t is a
sloppy mental attitude, one that in.
wolves more hurtful cranial processes
than can be counted, for every worker
is complete in himself, and he alone
knows the various mental "slants'
that go to make up his life.
X ~
What I am trying to get at here
Is that it is Just as sloppy for a per
son to be late to work as for him to
come downtown with his garters
hanging down; or, in the case of q
girl, for her to board the street car
with soiled stockings.
One is mental, the other Is physical