Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-14
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES Z. TRAcEwELL.

babies (male or female) is that their
4 tone is so positive that one succumhG to
their Judgment" (save the mark when
| he knows that the tone Of authority is
really all they have.
The garden variety OF wet blanket
has a sure knowledge of those kindly,
optimistic persons he can influence by
| his praise or censure. He knows in
stinctively when person is easily ex-
allied or depressed. And not being on
speaking terms with exaltation, in any
Of It's forms, he goes in solidly for de-
preston.
Let him once understand that you
have purchased something, he immedi-
ately cries. Nov, what did you do that
for?" This is the one sure sign Of the
wet blanket" He is forever asking
you what you did that for" 1t makes
no difference what you did, whatever
you did was wrong. This delightful
sureness is the gift Of God to the wet
blanket" You are always so wrong,
and he is always so correctly right.
Afterward, when you think 1t over, you
wonder just how 1t happens that you
are so very wrong and he is so per-
petually right. The Joke OF 1t Is that
he pans out almost 100 per cent in
error-but you never quite realize 1t at
the time.
You recall how enthusiastic you were
over your new radio receiving set. It's
large cost was indicative Of its fine tone
quality the sturdy construction Of chas-
sis and dynamic speaker. You were so
pleased with 1t that the FIRST time you
saw your friend you told him he should
hear 1t.
The frown which Immediately over
spread his face told you instantly that
you had made mistake in telling him
| about 1t. The only way one can be
happy with such people is to conceal
| things from them. One must skulk
from their divine displeasure.
What did you buy that make for?"
he asked, in hopeless tones. The i'm
possibility Of answering the question
simply liked 1t, that was all, and it cost
| q lot of money. and was regarded as one
Of the best sets on the market? Why
With o lordly gesture he swept all
a bad mistake. He was sorry you had
not come to him in the first place, he
would have set you right, seen that you
got your moneys worth: The set you
selected was probably the best Of the
second-class sets, yes, he was willing to
admit as much, but II one wanted real
tone quality he had to go elsewhere.
The result of this TRADE was that you
left feeling like a whipped dog, whereas
only few minutes before you had been
gay, happy and carefree, satisfied with
being the proud possessor Of q radio set
which pleased you from the ground up.
The effect Of these wet blankets" Is
the same as that Of q disagreeable
nightmare. No matter how unsound
one knows their advice to be. he cannot
forget it, any more than he can wipe
out Of his mind the effects Of o terrible
dream.
A wet blanket" person in reality is
a kind Of walking nightmare, from
whom one would willingly escape If pos
Sible. Sometimes 1t does not seem pos
sible. Sometimes entire families are
ridden by these carping, disagreeable
persons, who insist on sticking their
long noses in everybody's affairs, causing
unhappiness to spring up where happi-
ness was before. killing beautiful en-
thusiasms and substituting foreboding
doubt and restless perturbation. The
wet blanket" is a pest which az yet the
psychologists have not classified. Some
day he-or she-will be rightly under
stood as the trouble maker he-or She
is, but until then the unfortunate VIC
tins, the kindly. gentle, enthusiastic
people who deserve to fall into better
hands, will regard the wet blanket" as
q nuisance to wonder about.