Evening star., 1933-10-15
Incurable, Careless Offenders
BY EMILY POST.

7 DOUBT if there is any one who is
not at times made to suffer by
those who are inconsiderately care
i less. Moreover, the greatest Offend
ers are often those of best inten-
tions-but their good intentions and
their memories are disconnected.
We all know the book borrower who
says: "Oh, ks new book! Have you
read it?" At this point. if you have any
sense, you will say you have not finished
it. But you DON'T You say Yes"
Whereupon book borrower pounces:
Then you'll lend it to me?" With OBJ
vious reluctance, You say 1T happens
to be first edition and John treasures
1t especially" Book-borrower, with gen.
uine sincerity says he understands per-
fectly: he will keep it carefully wrapped
and will return it within 48 hours at
ne latest Very reluctantly, but feeling
Hat you can't very well refuse, you let
HIN take it.
Days go by and perhaps you tele-
phone: II hate to ask for it, but as
/ told you, John treasures it. May
get KS book?" Borrower answers:
I'm almost on the last page. You
shall have it tomorrow"
A week later he replies he is sure you
won't mind, but he met Mrs. Smith on
the street, just as he was on his way
taking the book to you, and Mrs. Smith
wanted to read it so much, and prom
ised she would be very careful of it and
leave 1t at your house in day or two.
Later you find that Mrs. Smith loaned
1t to careful Mrs Tripper-who took it.
to read on the train. And that is the
end of that
Or let us say the borrowed book is
finally returned, its pages dog
cared, its back bearing the cracked and
broken evidence of a back-bender-
meaning one who reads book bent
open so that its covers meet, and the
page being read is in the position OF
q top cover.
Other varieties of conscienceless bor-
rows include friends youthful ones,
rather especially who go to stay with
YOU and then ask to borrow almost
everything in the coat closet and the
garage. and quite possibly the kitchen
Starting off on the habitual picnic,
they borrow knives, forks. spoons
Just kitchen ones!" they say-and
they borrow a frying pan and broiler
and the vacuum ice-jar as well as or
dinary vacuum bottles. And then!
1t is true that everything may be
brought back rustless and unbroken, but
the reverse is quite as likely This is
not a criticism of young people only;
people of all ages are careless about one
thing or another. They are not all
careless in the same way, but the
chances are that those who have been.
allowed to be forgetful while young for
get rather thoroughly their whole lives
through They forget to go back into
the bath room to turn the water on
until the overflow begins to drip through
the ceiling of the room below: they
forget to turn the battery off in the
car they borrow, so that the owner
can't move it next morning. They come
into the house tracking muddy boots
across the carpets, and their smoking
carelessness varies in degree from the
smell Of cigarette butts and the untldl-
ness of scattered ashes to burned scars
on table edges.
NOR does smoking carelessness con-
~ fine itself to the untidy. Not long
ago watched young woman-hersef
the perfection of finished smartness-
slowly cross the drawing room OF
friend. Stopping to speak to one per-
son and another on her way, she
dropped ashes into the middle OF
vase Of flowers. into Chinese bowl on
e the knees of sitting ivory figure. INTO
the pot of a jade tree and pressed the
butt out on the metal base of lamp.
This last made a scar which burned
the lacquer, so that the lamp had to be
refinished by a professional burnisher
and the base relacquered
What can one do? The only thing
that I know Of Is to follow absent
minded smokers around and proffer
an ash tray in the nick of time This
Is excellent training for young sons
or daughters, if they can be induced
= think IT IN amusing game.