Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-30

| yet which has its roots in every mind
| and heart.
There are many men and a few
| women, however, who insist on taking
too literally the old couplet, "Life's q
joke. and all things show it; I thought
so once, and now know it." AS a
matter OF solemn truth. no one knows
that life is joke; sometimes it just
seems so, that Is all.
Certainly it cannot be called laugh
ing matter. Wherefore these fools who
| greet one in elevators and elsewhere
as If they had Several huge jokes in
mind. and the ls.Gest person they meet
quite the biggest joke of all, tend to
make one rather tired.
These clowns of the everyday, whether
! their hair be whitened or black, their
backs bowed or straight, insist on for
getting the essential respect due every
other human being.
They are forever wise-cracking"
when a simple Woodworking is in
order. How can they knew what the
state Of mind of their acquaintance is2
! For all they know, he may be suffering
| from toothache or something.
One suspects that they rather hope
| he is, and therefore they get an added
delight in slapping him on the shoulder,
especially If they know from past ex-
perience that he does not like it, and
in addressing him with unseemly
familiarity.
Familiarity breeds contempt, they
say, but there are persons whose nat
ural state Of mind Is contempt for every
one except their precious selves. You
can tell them usually by an unholy CLINT
| in their eyes.
They call it "high spirits" but its
| proper name is bad disposition" It is
a fundamental lack of applied decency
| for others 1t is one thing to know
theoretically how to treat others, and
often quite another matter to so treat
! them.
One constantly meets in all walks of
| life men who have the highest regard
| for ethics-in talk-but who in it's ap-
plication commonly will not shrink from
what are known as sharp practices.
utterly unworthy of gentlemen.
It. Is the same with so simple a mat
ter as greeting those one knows. Per-
haps no other action, and certainly no
other one Of such simplicity and ease,
shows up the real man as well.
1t Is quite possible to tell whether a
man has the instincts of a gentleman
| by the way in which he greets others.
Almost invariably it will be discovered
That his habitual greeting of others,
no matter what their station in life, is
reserved yet cordial and friendly.
Above all, it has about 1t a certain
solemnity which says better than words,
Il realize that you are comrade with
me in the great adventure Of life. Our
wolkS may take us far apart, but we
are one in the Great Mystery. I trust
you and respect YOU until find out I
cannot"
| 1t may be advanced here that we
take the frivolous greeter too seriously.
Perhaps so. But 1t is our experience
that this type of person gets away"
with his nastiness often on that precise
plea-that he means nothing by it.
We say that he does mean something
by 1t, and that he means too much BY
it. He ought to give over his jocu-
larity, his unwanted back shaping, both
physical and mental, and put on help
ful smile, whether he means 1t or not.
Life is not such bed of roses for any
Of us that we can willingly dispense
with all the help we can get.