Evening star., 1961-12-31
BY BETTY BEALE

over d new ledI-eVeryDOQy
else, that Is.
It is perfectly obvious by
now that you have no inten-
tion of remaking your own
fascinating selves with a mere
set of resolutions. But there
are certain things you can do
from here on in that will
make the lives of others less
fraught with Illustration.
To help you refrain from
setting the teeth of others on
edge, from getting under
their skin, making them hot
under the collar and bris-
tling with irritation as it
were, this columnist has al
truistically canvassed a cross
section Of prominent Wash
ingtonians.
Herewith are their answers
to the following Soul-search-
ing question: What pet
peeve of yours would you like
to see eliminated in 1892"
TISH BALDRIGE, Mrs.
John F. Kennedy's social Sec
retary. friend and contem-
porary, burst forth with her
reply. people who send me
letters and postcards and sign
Just their first names-like
Betty, Mary or Harry. I
never know who it isl" eX-
claimed the usually bubbling
Letitia in despair.
II must have 200 Christmas
cards at home signed by first
names and I haven't the
vaguest idea who sent them.
And that goes for postcards
from Europe like the one
from Venice that says Here
we are on the Grand Central
Canal thinking Of you.-
Dottie!' AS though I knew
only one Dottie. Bob or
Jane! :" The whole name
or nothing at all is the wish
of Tish.
POSTMASTER GENERAL
j. Edward Day replied so fast
I almost dropped the phone.
People who come up to me
at cocktail parties and dis
cuss complicated Government
business. I went to a party
the other day and there was
only one person in the whole
gathering who attempted to
be sociable at all. The others
all took up the accumulated
gripes and Illustrations of
the past 20 years"
II met a woman the other
day." continued the P. G.
whose department handles
65 billion pieces of mail a
year which is two-thirds of
all the mail handled in the
world "Who wanted to know
in great detail when a certain
package that was mailed in
upstate New York would ar
rive in Washington, D. c.
When I gave her my best
guess, she argued with me.
It was really a stimulating
conversation" finished the
ordinarily cheerful Mr.. Day.
But then he had just gone
through his most trying sea-
son.
MRS. BUCHANAN MER-
RYMAN. Wallis Windsor's
Aunt Bessie" who is past
the 95-year mark but femi-
nine enough to slay the i'm
pudent person who publishes
her actual age, answered the
question with the mental
speed for which she is noted.
What is her pet peeve?
ammo domini!" whipped
back Aunt Bessie. "It's these
accumulated years. I would
like to be in reverse" she
said, and then gave the for
mula for growing old grace
fully. you have to travel
along with years the best
you can and be kindly, con-
tented and considcrate of
Others"
Mrs. Merryman recently
described a ladies' luncheon in
three words: "Gabble, gobble
and git"
DEPUTY SECRETARY OF
DEFENSE Roswell Gilpatric
has two things he would like
to see deleted in the coming
year. One is diplomatic re-
ceptions and cocktail parties.
I think there would be more
time in Washington to get
things DONE" said the at
tractive, hardworking No. 2
man at the Pentagon, eff
we spent less time at pre-
evening social events. Not
that I'm a good example"
he added. Dinner parties are
something else again. He's in
favor of good conversation
around an excellent meal.
AS for the second grippe,
it's retired military officers
who are overprone to criti-
cize the very things they did
themselves when they were
on duty" He put it politely
but underneath was the same
irritation that has bothered
Defense heads of every ad-
miniStration for years.
PAMELA TURNURE, Mrs.
Kennedy's glamorous young
press secretary, the envy of
all other girls in their mid
20s because of the locale and
fascination of her job, said
her pet peeve was part and
parcel of "the plight Of the
poor working girl" What's
poor about working in the
White House?
IF you have a job and
are running VOllr own house