Show I COMMUNITY FAMILIARITY BREEDS CIVIC CONTEMPT f r t r A lady wrote me a letter recently In which she asked What do you mean when you say on one of th the monkey wrenches In cown community cow com n unity machinery Is contemptuous familiarity I l. l she continued what yo you mean by monkey wrenches but I dont don't get this contemptuous familiarity Contemptuous familiarity is the opposite of wide awake- awake fuh ess It Itis is s the blindfold that keeps you fr from m seeing the ear earmuffs earmuffs muffs that lt keep ep you from hearing the opportunity that Is to the right to the left above and below you right ight here i in Delta Vh Whenever never the civic clubs of your community perform a task for the good of all it causes you to say Well they are supposed ed to do it No need to thank em And when your newspaper editor takes up a vital issue In your welfare you are moved to say Hes been paid to do It it When local business men say All we ask is a chance to serve you it causes you to say Why should we do them any favors What have they ever done for us It is that which puts the idea into your head that there Is nothing for you in Delta and to be something or do something you have to go elsewhere that which causes you to feel that Delta is not big enough for you when the truth of the matter Is that Delta is just as big as you make it To be le contemptuously familiar keeps you down belittles you and belittles Delta and causes all wide awake people who know you and with whom you come in contact to feel sorry for and to pity you Contemptuous familiarity is worse than thana a a. monkey wrench in the machinery It It is a disease playing havoc with communities everywhere You know the story of the man who moved away because it itI I was such a nuisance to pick up the stones full of little black lumps that littered his field and hindered his plowing each spring Today that field is the largest diamond mine In the world Also the man Dlan who sold his farm because there was so much oily scum on the creek the stock couldn't drink it To To- Today To Today Today day that field is one of the finest oil locations in the country Both of these men were infected with contemptuous familiar familiar- ity 1 tr For years a pretty little stream of clear pure water trickled from the side of a rock walled hillside within four blocks of the center of a community of people Hundreds of local citizens saw it ever every r day many passing by It and some stopping stopping stopping stop stop- ping to drink A stranger came one day saw and drank but he did not pass Today he is a millionaire through the sale of that water in bottles i Several hundred acres of swamp land overgrown with a a lot lotof lotof lotof of worthless willows were joyfully unloaded by local people onto a sucker who is now worth his weight in gold through resale of the self-same self timber Umber to a a. reed furniture manufacturer Look around you See hear recognize and take advantage of the opportunities around you They are there if you will but take advantage of them Copyright 1929 A A. D. D Stone Reproduction in part or in whole This Town Doctor is published by the Chronicle In cooperation with the Lions lub of Delta t |