The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1945-12-13
THE
CHERRY TREE
Where With Our Little Hatchet
We Tell the Truth about
Many Things, Sometimes Pro-
fOundly, Sometimes Flippanly
and Sometimes Recklessly.

All over the country people are talk
ing about two things: Our foreig
policy or lack of one and "Labo
troubles"
Could it be that our befuddlemen
over big, full. sized issues is due t
what almost amounts to nationa
way of thinking in terms Of belittle
ments?
Individually land while she i
around) we may not call her "the lit
tie woman" but collectively we do.
Nobody ever goes out for a rounc
Of poker at night with "the men," No
always he goes out with "the boys,
even though they may be gray haired
We talk of "the little house." W.
"little" almost everything. We ever
talk about my little old pay check
And when we aren't talking that
way we are boasting that everything
around us is "the finest" "the best, y
'"the biggest" especially "the big
gest" on earth.
We seem unable to think of any
thing unless we think in terms of adj
jectives.
Don't we get distorted point of
view, distorted way Of thinking, out
Of that national characteristic
The chances are that we do.
And while we think in terms, either
of "the little" this-or-that, or "the big
gest this or-that, we expect "the news
paper boys" to write pieces which in
terpret as correctly, or what we think
is correctly.
We need to drop the diminutive.
We need to drop it where it will
break all to pieces.
We need to think in grown ur
way, seeing things in their right sizs
and in their right Importance.
The "little woman may be 200.
FOUNDER, married to a shrimp-so she
isn't really the "little" woman at all
in relation to her spouse.
We must begin to think straight
and do that we must start from
scratch.
We can't think sloppily on part
time basis.
We hear men talk of "this big son
Of mine," in a clear effort to make
it appear that the son is bigger and
more nearly man than he is actual
ly.
Now the Chinese make it a practice
to demcan their possessions before
strangers. Especially is gift poor
and insufficient thing.
But this is national courtesy GUS
tom, intended to convey the idea that
the guest is greatly respected or
admired and that it is impossible to
show him sufficient hospitality.
With us il is national self-kidding
business.
When we talk Of "the boys" who are
men, possibly well past middle life,
we betray type of infantlism and
we also rob "the boys" Of the dignity
of manhood.
likeWiSeJ the lltlic WoiIidii 10, ny
reason Of the description, person
Of inferior statute, dependent, al
though generally it isn't so intended.
But all of this exaggeration, up or
down, is arrant nonsense. 1t is mostly
in accurate. Thinking inaccurately
part Of the time surely doesn't make
for accuracy the rest Of the time.
How about getting grown-up in our
thinking, about little things as well
as about big things?
1t could not fail to help us in as
sessing the larger issues of life.
And the larger issues get larger all
the time.
Our foreign policy can lead to
World War 3--or away from it.
Our planning and action about slab
or troubles" can upset our whole eco
nomy; or it can get it on the road to
stability and soundness.
To prevent the most CHASTITY bung-
ling this nation ever knew, we must
think straight, SO that we can act
wisely.
Twaddle thinking won't get US to
first base. On the contrary, it will
lead us to cataclysmic disaster, un-
less we're luckier than we deserve to
ho CMW