Show amp A don dont t be extravagant said the prosperous business man as his sec detary took up a pair of shears and pared to cut the string that tied 1 he he express package it if you cut that string you will spoil it untie it or let me I 1 guess I 1 in more used to it than you are the knot was a hard lard one and the prosperous business man said several things under his breath as he fumbled and picked at it the secretary watched him with an amused smile which the prosperous business man detected as he at last loosened the tangled string and looked up lip in triumph there he said you were laugh ing at me young man the secretary looked a little tool fool ish well said the prosperous busl ness man I 1 don t blame you it if you were I 1 ought to be laughed at it its s just a fool habit ot of mine though did you ever read a story about a piece ot of string I 1 don t recall it replied the secre tary it was guy de some french guy who wrote it said the prosper oua ous business man it was a piece ot of string that gave a man a lot ot of grief you re not stringing me I 1 hope said the secretary you 11 get to the end ot of yours it you make any more breaks like that P said his employer severely III tell you about this though because you are young yet and it may prove a warning to you my father was an economical man before me he ile d walk ten or fifteen blocks to save a carfare and buy 25 cents worth of cooling liquid to refresh himself after the walk that sort of an economist one day he saw me cut a string that came around a package of dried apples and he remonstrated with me on my extravagance I 1 suppose it went in at one ear and out of the other it didn dian t go in the ear it lit on I 1 and made it sing you had a musical ear then I 1 wish you t interrupt said the prosperous business man tes tily it made an impression any way he told me that it if I 1 dida didn t ac so quire habits of 0 thrift I 1 id d end up in the poorhouse he ile quoted a proverb or tried to make me think he quoted it there was another package to be opened and he carefully untied it colled coiled the string around his outspread fingers and tied it in a neat skein like this the prosperous business man illustrated with the string that came around the express package that s all right said the secretary approvingly now when you want a piece of string you ve got it that s what my father observed my own e experience habut t justified the observation when I 1 want a piece of string I 1 haven t got it I 1 throw the skein in a drawer usually but when I 1 go to look tor for it it isn t there why don t you throw it away in the first place then inquired the secretary for the same reason that you will never be able to overcome your habit of asking tool fool questions it its S all habit I 1 t have a knife with me the next time I 1 had occasion to open a package and I 1 then remembered that it was a very wicked thing to cut a useful piece of string and I 1 untied it soon I 1 found myself untying another package and it grew into a habit now it hurts me to see anybody take a knife or scissors to a piece of string but I 1 don t delude myself with the idea that it la Is economy I 1 suppose I 1 have wasted hundreds of dollars worth of time in untying bard hard knots to say nothing of the temper I 1 have lost and the language I 1 have misused and I 1 suppose 25 cents would more than cover the value of what I 1 have saved dont try to be economical if you would be wealthy |