The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1953-05-06
HAL
BOYLE
SAYS

NEW YORK QS-The man still
wears the pants in the average
American home-Dut it is the wife
who picks the kind he wears.
my husband simply hates shop
ping" she says smugly. He'd
never buy new suit unless / went
along with him."
I don't like to destroy any wom-
ans Illusion, but a wife who holds
the idea is simply kidding herself.
Most men love to go shopping and
buy purity things to hang upon
themselves and cloak natures err
rors. Neither sex has a corner on
vanity.
But it is a mistake for wife to
think he brings her along on suit
buying safari because he is color
blind or she has superior taste. He
is simply afraid to &C it alone. He
wants her for the same reason he
would like her by his side if he had
to go into a lions den-for protec-
ton. For her fighting qualities, if
real trouble breaks out.
By himself a man has the same
resistance against a clothing sales
man a worried worm has against
a hungry robin. He doesn't know
which way to turn. He buys what
he doesn't want because he be-
comes frantic and can't say mo"
Normally you can't blame this
on the salesman. He's no spider.
spinning a web of words to trap
your pocketbook. He's just plain.
God~fearing. debt owing, horse
playing, wife-listening fellow who
earns an indoor living as he listens
to his foot arches slowly crumble
through the years.
No, it is a mans own fault if he
buys the wrong suit. The reason
he does it is because he is fright
ened. He has been afraid Of cloth
ing stores. since childhood. Here is
new it all began:
You are a little boy, and your
mother takes you to store to buy
you a new suit. You and your moth
er are all alone in a strange new
world, where q big tall strange
man pats you patronizingly on the
back and says, $50 this is the little
man, eh?" And you look around
and all you can see is row on row
of little suits hung UP on racks
like headless children your own
age.
You feel uneasy. You run up TO
mirror and peek in and see three
boys intead of you. One boy is
you. Who are the ether two? You
have never seen a three-way mir
ror before.
Fascinated, you turn around and
around and discover all three boys
are you. But you have never seen
yourself this way before. Your pro-
file is a stranger. Is this the WY
you look to other people? II de-
presses you. You make a face at
your reflection-and get three
faces back.
While you are still gloomy over
discovering you have three faces
instead of the one you are used to,
you hear the tall strange man say
firmly:
Il think this one was made for
him!"
"Weli, DON'T" says mother
sharply, because she is tired.
Oh, oh! Mama and the tall
strange man are fighting! Will he
hit her? II he does, can she whip
him? She is awful strong. but he
Is awful big. What can you do to
help mama? Bite the man in the
leg?
Terrified. you run your eyes
down the rack. pick out a suit you
had liked when you first came in.
and say:
Please, Mama. like this one"
Well, the sharp words end. Mama
smiles, the big strange man smiles
You get nice new suit, instead Of
being hung up IN the rack your
seif-as you had feared.
But all your life you still have
deep in you your childish dislike
Of the three-way mirror for show
Ing you to yourself as you really
look, and your fear Of the tai
strange man.
That Is the secret reason why
man takes his wife along when he
buys q new suit. For the comfort
OF her presence-not the surety o.
her taste.
So face It, Ladies. When you go
into a clothing store with the man
you're married 10. II isn't Your
husband you're with. You are sim.
ply leading by the land his moth,
er's small boy, secretly Is con-
fused as ever.
-.