Evening star., 1943-02-15
Youth Pushed
From Tires
To Skids
They Seek Patch
For Blowout of
Park Go World
Bv J. r, McEvOY.

AS veteran huS0anQ ana 1atnsN
Of many years standing in the club"
and all paid up-I have been re-
quested by somebody who was afraid
to sign his name to write few
thousand words about the present
dangerous situation which has de-
Veloped as a result of gas rationing.
I gather he believes that when
the family automobile goes up on
blocks, the family itself will go
out on skids-and he has asked me
to head off this catastrophe with
few Well-chosen words. Bowing
right and left to the gathering ap-
plause. I shall now proceed to do so.
First of all, would like to point
out that the enforced companion
ship of the members of the family
driven together by the withdrawal
OF the automobile and compelled to
share the solitary confinement of
the home-has the most profound
psychological implications.
Park -and-Go Life.
will begin with the obvious
stresses and strains that will be
visited on the young members of
the family, who have arrived at
what we psychologists call the mat
ing age. These youngsters have
grown up with the automobile
it took them away from under the
stern eyes Of their elders and gave
them a chance to get acquainted
to the strains of the juke box or the
romantic light of friendly moon
as they parked hither and thither,
but mostly yon.
Today, they must do their court
ing, their wooing, in the living
room-which is also combinatio
dining room-quite often the bed
room, too-and also the den, music
room, study and nursery. Grandma
sits in the corner pretending to be
deaf, mother is carrying on her
Red Cross work, bandaging up
father; the little ones are playing
Commando and breaking each 9TH
er's limbs with whoops of glee, and
friends are staying overnight be-
cause they came to dinner and
there were no seats on the late bus
! home.
Some Coping Necessary.
Our young people have not been
trained to cope with this situa-
tlon-nor is the modern home de-
signed to help them. The parlor is
gone. The kitchen, to which the
old folks used to retire and stay
out of sight until "the young man"
had gone home. is so small that
there is only room for mother and
the boarded canned goods.
There is a problem, too, of heating
Cars furnish their own heat-and
as for the moon, every lover knows
that scientists are talking nonsense
when they say the moon Is cold
and her light is only a reflected
light from the sun.
We all know that our modern
economy is geared to the automo-
bile-but how many of us realize to
what extent new-folk ways have
been developed? Babies born In
taxicabs on the way to the hospitals
/ RI rjln - ~
again like fancy poultry. their feet
not permitted to touch the ground.
They court in cars, honeymoon
in trailers, live on the highway from
one hotel to another-and when
they die they are whisked away In
a hlgh-powered hearse at the head
Of proud motor cavalcade of rent
ed limousines. The car was here
to stay-remember? Alas, already
it Is a shrouded ghost in a dusty
| garage.
Pioneers Solved 1t.
| Poor young generationi What are
We going to do for these boys and
| girls? Back in our Revolutionary
days the old folks recognized that
| life must go on-even though fuel
was scarce and the fire might 80
out. So they countenanced bun
| dling-the young couple, fully
dressed, would go to bed, but not
exactly together, for there was
| big saW-toothed board dropped
down between them-and there they
could talk and keep warm and talk.
until the old folks came in from
| the kitchen and said, Its time for
you to go home now. young man"
| Mighty fine stuff, our forefathers.
No wonder they built brave and
hardy Nation. Now, we, too, have
| a chance to build anew. AS the
fellow says, we are faced with
condition, not theory. Life must
go on. Our young people are wait
ing. Are we too proud and prudish
to learn from our fathers? Is an
other pipeline from Texas the an
swer? Or bigger and better bum
ding? pause for reply from you,
| Mr.. Ickes.
| distributed by McNaught Syndicate. Ine)