Evening star., 1928-11-07
Evasion.

Evasion.
There Is large class of persons whom
we may call the evaders. AS a subject
for a sermon it would be simple to pile
up the varieties of evaderS, UP to four
teenthly and beyond, for it would in
clude the people who don't meet their
engagements, find it cheaper to move
than to pay rent, pay no attention to
bills, crawl out Of responsibility, change
the subject, put it off until tomorrow,
throw the blame on some one else and
when they pass away leave their affairs
in a tangled and messy condition.
In the course OF a career of evasion,
they become shirkers, or It may be that
they are shirkers and Slackers to begin
with and become evaders, or they be-
come liars, unless, again, they are that
to begin with. The class Of evaders Is
large one and makes no end Of trouble
and to more persons than collectors.
They are something more than shiftless
ana thriftless, in that this idea of get
tlng out OF 1t Is more or less Of a
policy.
It's all good stuff for a sermon, and
there's strong temptation to treat 'em
rough and make it plain what you think
OF them. Psychology and morals con-
stantly overlap. But the psychologists
major interest is in understanding how
we get that way, and he tries to keep
cool even in speaking Of evaders.
l suppose the largest class of evad-
ers, and the least offensive, is the school
buffers. They start early on the career
OF getting away with it with the
teacher. They evade the schooling that
Is for the time their job. Teachers
could contribute volumes on the evad-
ers they have met-and caught The
truant is the simplest evader, but he
puts up no bluff-he just stays away.
Monday morning at school and on the
JOB hnds good many absentees. With
them, IN school life and out of 1t, we
must couple the excuse makers, who
put up more or less plausible tale in
the hope that they can get away with
1t. A superintendent of large plant
put sign on his door: Permission to
attend funerals will not be granted on
Gays when there Is ball game"
All this Is intelligible enough and is
hangover from childhood. But this
age OF helplesSness, when "I couldn't
help 1t" still plays real part in what
presently becomes evasion, marks the
beginning Of the habit and isn't easy
10 deal with. You must forgive and
overlook such a powerful lot in chill
dren, and you must keep on such good
terms with them. If they are your own,
that 1t isn't simple matter to know
when you must call for showdown and
make 1t plain that you see through the
game-whether you are going TO take
1t seriously or not. Evasion Of the au-
thorities is a favorite indoor and out
door sport, of boyhood at all events.
Serious evasion begins somewhat
later, when responsibility has already
been assumed. Moralists will insist
that out of the youthful evader grows
the later delinquent; and there is
enough truth in it to make It all-im-
portant to nip the habit in the bud
by calling men and women in the
making strictly to account for their
failures and mistakes. But those who
take a more psychological view Of the
matter say that when the prank age
Is over q decided change comes over
the young scamp, and he makes a
pretty clear distinction between eva
sion as a prank and meeting an obli-
cation as trust. much as he draws
a line between stealing signs to deco