The Northwest times. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1947-1955, 1952-08-30
BY CINDERELLA


morning the hardest task in m,
complicated existence. And gettin,
up on a Monday morning following
a week or two of holidays is next Il
an indignity. After two weeks o
unregimented existence, waking III
whenever I pleased, going to beC
whenever 1 pleased with only my.
self to answer to, to find myself re.
duced to a mere automaton. subser.
Went to an alarm clock, is downright
disgrace. It's an affront to one.
personal individual freedom.
am, by disposition, a cheerful
individual Usually. I can see the
woods despite the trees But a Mon
day morning awakening to that
iangling-and what sound could be
more disturbing to sensitive ears
than that soundl-is one challenge
which finds me falling flat on my
face, cropping in semi-conscious stu
/ tCA AOA pOAiAN hdS uN 0ANuot Ml1iNil
will justify my staying in bed
Time has not mellowed my feel
ings any My antagonism for the
| alarm clock and the whole process
of getting up is as strong today as
it was when first I became unhappy
and unwilling partner to its de-
mands. I have learned. though, not
to get worked up emotionally over
getting up, but to take it in my
stride-the sloWest stride 1 can COM
fortably muster.
This attitude. however, has been
acquired not without my share of
frustrating experiences, aided and
abetted by friends and relatives and
members of that school of bright
boys who are determined to make
me rise and shine" I am con-
vinced that even if the world were
coming to an end, they would still
chirrup Good morning, folks!"
There was a time I used to talk
myself into waking up to catch the
wonders of dawn In winter. it
would be mental pictures of snow
laden pear trees outside my bed
room window, or pixie traceries of
ivory on my windowpane. In sum
mer, it was the golden sunshine
spilling over my window sill or the
sound of birds singing. But some
how, before breakfast nature didn't
possess that much allure-and there
was the safe knowledge that could
catch nature some other day.
I tried the Rise and Shine" boys
technique. To their Nov altoge-
ther, one, two, three, four. one,
two. three, four, 1 practically tied
myself in knots. Strangely enough,
the bedroom became too small to
hold me. I bumped myself on the
dresser and literally took chunks out
of it. More practical members of
the family were more concerned
with the marks left on the dresser
than with the blue-purple marks
on mel
II the beauties of morning could |
not rouse me from my slumber, nor
the Rise and Shine" boys scare me
into activity, there were ingenious
ways in which I tried to surprise |
myself into getting up. 1 would |
hide the clock in odd corners at
quite some distance from the bed,
in the hope that when it began to
ring, I would, in the process of
looking for it, awaken myself. But
unfortunately, by some peculiar
mental block, invariably 1 would |
forget where I had hid it, and the
ensuing noise emanating from the
unseen clock would drive me like
frightened rabbit, back into the
folds of my blanket Using two
clocks proved no better. The din
caused by two clocks ringing stimuli
taneously or at intervals drove the
family into such a state that for
some time I was left to depend upon
my own resources for getting up.
1 sought advice 1 knew an ac- !
luaintance whose disposition was
geatherproof, accident proof, tenn
In fact. she didn't mind
getting up on Monday mornings!
Upon much probing she confessed to
| kind of ritual. 1t was all in the
mind, she told me. In her dressing
mirror was inserted a small type
written card which read; BE en-
Every morning, she
woke up, faced the mirror and the
ard in the grim, harsh dawn, and
hat did the trick. Not impervious
o anything that might bring peace
o my shattered. disillusioned soul
acquired for myself a similar pla-
ard When the alarm rang,