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Show ABE MEN BECOMING TOO POLITE .;..'-' . '. Such Tendency Appears to Exist, So It Is Claimed by Some. Can politeness be overdone? The other dsy a man met a lady In a prominent street. They stopped to chat. The man removed his hat. He struck an 'attitude of humility. They chatted for ten minutes. min-utes. All the time the man held his tat In his hand and stood there in an acquiescent acqui-escent attitude while the lady talked animatedly ani-matedly and evidently in a radiant humor. hu-mor. The man was overdoing himself In the act of being polite. He was merely acting the part of a well-dressed flunky. We have heard it announced as an axiom thtt.the predominance of the school marm" In our public school system is doing a great deal to ellemtnize our boys. If It la responsible for the tendency to overestimate our desire to appear polite, po-lite, the point la perhaps well taken. It won't do to be too dogmatic on this subject. sub-ject. Perhsps better views insy offset this conclusion1. But the fact remains that a tendency does exist smong us to be overpollte. and the case cited bears witness to this belief. There are men who always have their hats in their hands when ladles are about ai.d who conduct themselves, broadly speaking. In a servile manner that comports 111 with the dignity of good breeding snd can hardly appeal to the good sense of a woman of taste and refinement. But there Is one point in our universal bearing in respect to which most of us might profitably seek Improvement. That Is the relative deportment of men toward one another. Here we often find a glaring glar-ing deficiency of politeness, in a majority ma-jority of cases It Is dangerous or a man to risk a conversation with a ctranger. In numerous Instances a polite remark Is met with a frown and a reproving atare from the person addressed. Out in the wild and wooly West and down South men still preserve a primitive primi-tive habit of politeness In thsir l elation to strsngers. Ojie Is permitted to ask questions and' IsNeasonably sure of receiving re-ceiving a courteous reply. In some sections sec-tions the person addressed Is apt to know all about your family before he leavea you. In the west the wayfarer Is ex- rted to be communicative and to dip like an old friend, whethsr It is a game of seven-up or a discussion of crops and politics. But in this partl.Tilar part of the United States the East unless one has enjoyed a formal introduction to the person whom hs wishes to engage In conversation he la prone to come off with a severe rebufT. There sre garrulous persons who are continually butting in, whether they are encouraged to do so or not. A wholesome rebufT won t hurt this kind of individuals. But all men .-who are Inclined to 'converse are not In that category. To be overpollte to women and surly to men is as reprehensible as the other extreme. -- We have the Indian fashion -t shaking hands and keeping our hats on, and mosr of the handshaking that Is done la ss much pro forma and Intrinsically ss cold and unsympathetic as that same form of politeness between two puplllsts preparing prepar-ing to maul each other. In - continental Europe when men of -breeding meet jot are Introduced they remove their liats and bow. The act of shakin r hands-la reserved re-served for warm Intimates. Even good friends doff their hats in salute on meeting. meet-ing. This form of politeness may be more sham. If it Is not prompted by a coui-teous coui-teous sentiment that springs, from the heart. But why not cultivate manly courtesy as a creed snd elevate 4 he. tone' f genuine polltenevs. without either making mak-ing It servile or confining it strictly to one sex? Let there be enough politeness to go round. Washington Post. |