The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-06-02
RE YOUR { CHILDREN
Dy OIwe Roberts DarteM i.
s.l z l1E.zz '...

"Ixeplns up with the Joneses." It has become the great American by.word. We should have it coined on our dollars between "B Pluribus Unum" and "fn God We Trust" it means so many things. With some people It means to be avhatns cd of having only two bathrooms instead of four. With others, not being able to afford new paint for the back steps.
 Some cannot sleep because the "big shots" across the street have not called, while Ut Number se in the rear, the Widow O'Dowd iB tossing because Mrs Piffenpener got an extra days work and bought her Heinie new yellow shoes, while her own 'Torry has had Co get his old ones halk.aoied.. And Bo it goes on. Jealousy or horse owners toward those win. ming tho PreakneBs and curslng . fate that will nt permit them to own blooded stoedB. Jealousy of boat fans for those owning steam yachts, Jealousy of the fishermen limited to gar and pike in the can. ai for those fortunates out after tarpon in privileged waters.
 Harmful Physically
 Keeping up with the Joneges. Unhappiness. Keeping up with the Joneses. Jealousy. Keeping ID with the Joneseg. Missing the sky, the wind, q drink Of cool water, the very ecstasy of breath.
 Heart.failure because of heart. ache, and heartaehe, because of biindesg. A noted physician ae- oribog much real heart disease to
 What does lt matter how other people iive7 Everyone can be rnis. erAbio crying for the moon--or lose his reason staring at t. No one, as it happens, does 90, but only because the moon Is unattain. able. If the JoneBes had q moon there would soon be an epidemic of heart. failures among their friends because it must be the thing to have q moon or the Jonegeg wouldn't have one.
 Whore is the simple life where people gweated and prayed, dc. Voured plain food with thanks and snt Of q peaceful evening accepting the friendship of the stars?
 thave no urge to be poetieai or even rhetoricai. l have only cor. tain hopeless mitigation over the plight of mankind. There gre some real poor, some who are des. perateiy suffering, some who are sad beyond repair, but the major. ity Of people arc waiiing against 6 futile wall for no other reason on earth but c pair of yellow shoes and q few moro bathrooms.
 Imagined Worries
 Rotrenehlng has beaten us on the whole. W0 cannot accept liv. ing in . smaller house, living on pay cuts, or doing work beneath our college sducations, We fight the whoi0 idea. We can't accept it. We won't accept t. Why--there are the Joneges now
 Of course there are the Joneges. There always will Do, but we might look down instead of up, behind tnstead Of across. At the widow in Number 23 instead of the lady in tho big house across the street. We could change government and the social order, but t wouldn't help much. There would still bs the Joneses-if Mrs Jones was the only woman who put in more riv. cts in c day than we could in the mlll where we worked.
 am sorry for those in trouble; ! am sorry for the worries of tho past few years. But I know that too much of it Is imagined and inst we'll never sec tho light or Do happy until we dodge that shadow of tho Joneses, and be moro con- tented with life as We find it.