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Show Kathleen Norris Says: The Girl With No Boy Friend Bell Syndicate. WNU Features. I us f K - oin language class Russian or Spanish. You'll meet interesting people of all age$ at evening classes." By KATHLEEN NORRIS " T SIMPLY am not inter-I inter-I esting, and I know it," J- writes Georgia Carter, from a Georgia city. "I am 30, 1 have a good job, I live in a nice apartment, I have no family, and I am completely uninteresting. Oh, and I am not bad-looking. "I feel like Galsworthy's little lit-tle man, 'Am I alive?' Life roars on all about me. Girls are crying their hearts out over soldiers gone away, they are welcoming them back, house -hunting, job -hunting, having babies. The newspapers newspa-pers shriek with headlines. In our town we had a big fire, a big flood, political changes of the most drastic sort none of it touches me. "My friends are married. They have babies, I smile at all the babies. But even the babies are not Interested, and as for the husbands well, I have sense enough to keep out of their way. I dress nicely, eat well, have a luxurious bed and a pleasant room, and at 58 I will have enough money saved and invested in-vested to give me a modest Income for life. Am I not lucky! So lucky that I seriously think of suicide. "Years ago mother used to tell me to Interest men by getting them to talk. It makes my face hot to remember re-member how often I started Into bright conversations about law, meat-packing, planes, real estate, bulldogs. The man would look at me blankly, answer in a monosyllable, monosyl-lable, and turn to the girl on the other side. I simply can't do it Afraid of Future. "Those years between 30 and 58 fascinate me. There's something rather scaring to a woman of 30 in looking ahead. Perhaps it's easier at 40. What shall I do? My job is superintendent of the mail order department de-partment of a drug firm. I have about 20 girls under me. They all know the answers better than I do." Earlier in the letter she saya that her father was an invalid for many years, unable to stand noise or the presence of strangers, and that when he died, in her 21st year, her mother sank into an invalidism almost as complete. So Georgia had no youth, no joyous joy-ous girlhood of home entertaining and home security. No wonder she is still stiflnecked and awkward with men, fumbling about for subjects in which to interest them, and knowing or half-suspecting in her uncomfortable heart that the simplest thing in which to interest inter-est them is herself. And you have to be interested in yourself if anyone else is to find you interesting, Georgia. So stop trying to attract outsiders, and attract at-tract yourself to yourself. There are many ways to do this. They all sound flat and unconvincing, uncon-vincing, tout you only have to try a few of them honestly to be reborn re-born into enthusiasm, first for your own life, and then for the lives all about you. Get a Country Place. Td get out of the two-room city apartment, and find some small place In the country, near town. Buy. it if you like It enough; as well now and as at that future date, when you will have saved enough money for your old age. Enjoy it now and in your old age, too. You'll never find yourself at a loss for conversa- "I think ivioiuly el tuicida. . . A NEW APPROACH Many young people in big cities can't seem to fit in socially. so-cially. They are fairly successful success-ful in business or professional life, but they go on, year after year, unable to attract anyone who could possibly be considered in marriage. So they remain single. Eventually they drift into their thirties. Then suddenly one day there comes a panicky realization that the future will not take care of them; that without vigorous trying, they are facing fac-ing a drab middle age, and sad, lonely old age. Such a situation is presented in a letter Miss Norris reprints in today's paper. A girl just turned 30 has a good job, a nice New York apartment, good clothes, in fact, practically practical-ly everything. She says she is good looking, well educated, and agreeable. Somehow, nevertheless, nev-ertheless, all the men she meets soon turn to someone else. It just seems impossible for her to be interesting, no matter what she tries to talk about. Miss Norris advises this unhappy un-happy girl that she must take a new approach; try to get interested in-terested in something herself. She could go to evening school, for instance. There are always intelligent people taking night classes, and among her classmates class-mates there are sure to be some who would be glad to number her among their friends. Another An-other possibility would be to move to a small place in the country, just outside of toivn. Here she could develop new interests gardening, poultry raising, perhaps. Soon she would have a host of new acquaintances. ac-quaintances. She would never be at a loss for something to talk about, either. tion when you can talk of your fireplace, fire-place, the things that will and won't grow in your garden, the difficulty in getting furnace oil and a secondhand second-hand refrigerator, and the ridiculous kitten that has adopted you. Get some picturesque clothes, even if you haven't nerve enough to wear them anywhere except in the house. Ask an occasional office friend to come out to lunch some Sunday, and warn him or her that he or she may have to help weed. Join a language class Russian Rus-sian or Spanish. You'll meet interesting inter-esting persons of all ages at evening eve-ning Spanish classes. Then budget your time as well as your income. Three hours in the garden on Sundays, extra jobs about the house, written menus for the week, church, just so much radio amusement, and one or two letters, or your language lesson, written to radio music late in the evening. When you're thoroughly absorbed in all these new activities, you'll discover dis-cover that someone else is, too. The man who came out to help you weed will want to come again; your new friend in the Russian class will ask you if he may not come and do your language study with you; a neighbor neigh-bor will step over to borrow a hose and suggest a movie. And you will be so absorbed in your own interests that you will be amazed to feel deep gratitude when you have a whole evening to yourself. your-self. BEFINISIIING A COAT To give a repaired coat a finished look, steam press wool fabric. Protect Pro-tect it with one of the treated press cloths which can be bought with directions di-rections for use, or by covering the wool with a dry wool cloth, then a dampened cotton cloth. To steam press, set the warm iron down, then lift it with just enough force to drive steam through the wool that is, use patting or pressing instead of the usual back-and-forth ironing motion. Be sure that the Lining is smooth under un-der the coat to avoid wrinkling. |