Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-14

People who specialize in killing en-.
thusiaSm In others have long been
known by one of those peculiarly ap-
propriate phrases which help to con.
stitute the genius of the English
language.
Such persons are termed wet blan-
kets," because Of their clinging, suffocat-
Ing qualities, guaranteed to take all OF
most OF the Joy out of the life of the
kindest, happiest person.
The kinder. happier a person is, the
surer he is to suffer the devastating ef-
iects Of the dyed-in-t i1e-wooI "wet
blanket" the man or woman who never
agrees, never praises, never boosts.
The wet blanket" can function as
such only by disagreeing with every
thing any one else does, says, thinks
buys or contemplates buying The I'M
canny persistence with which he can dc
this furnishes one of the most interest
ing studies In the world to the curious
minded student of human nature.
The wet blanket" is one of the prize
specimens Of humanity. He suffers
from an ingrowing crouch against the
rest Of the world, which he sees to be
fairly happy, as contrasted with his
own savage mind.
When he compares his own moderate
wealth with what he assumes to be
the great boards of his neighbors, an
inner resentment selves him, secretly
gnawing at the vitals of his brain.
Since he cannot be happy himself, he
is determined to let no one else be; since
he cannot buy everything he wants, he
would get genuine satisfaction out of
stopping the buying af anything by
others; since he cannot agree In his own
heart with anything, he hopes to cause
a similar perturbation in the hearts of
his felloWmen.
The human wet blanket" begins his
all-embracing career by butting in on
affairs which are strictly none of his
business. This permits him to function
almost noiseleSsly. II he were confined
to legitimate business Of his own he
could cause no unhappiness, and this
would leave him unhappy himself, which
Is the last thing he wants. His hap
piness consists in causing others to be
in doubt. Perplexity Is his meat. II he
can stir up two doubts where only one
grew before, he is nightly pleased.
He specialiZes in advising others
what to do, how to live, what to think
and when to think 1t. Above all, he
poses as adviser extraordinary on pur-
chasing anything under the sun. Just
where he got this divine wisdom no one
kHOWS. Kermit MIN 10 suspect Tor mo-
ment that you are going to purchase
house, Immediately he takes you under
his wing. From then on you are his
special problem. The prize of following
his advice is-would you guess it?-
nothing more nor less than the felicity
OF pleasing him!
The penalty you pay for diSregarding
his advice is the risk of displeasing him.
Without troubling himself to know what
you want In the house line. he imme-
diately selects your house for you, and
woe to you II you refuse to purchase it.
The little fact that you do not care to
live so close to the car line has nothing
to do with the case. Just look at the
beautiful trees! He wouldn't mind the
noise of the cars, how can you mind
1t? Your objection is absurd, ridiculous
and only brought up to attempt to cause
him discontinue. Isn't he spending his
precious thought in helping out your
inferior intellectual processes?
To listen to him speak, any one would
think the entire purchase price were
coming right out of his own pocket.
He earnestly inveighs against q certain
neighborhood, praises another. Five
years later. when you walk both ways,
you see, what you suspected then, that
he didn't know what he was talking
about.
The unfortunate thing about all such