Show L DOROTHY DIX TALIS F 1 r-i r DIX the Uie Worlds World's DIh t Paid raid Worn tt rite UNSOUGHT CRITICISM FREE ADVICE I TOLD YOU SO ACCOUNTS OF PERSONAL ACHES AND PAINS CRUEL SPEECHES TO THE FAMILY THAT WE WOULD NEVER MAKE TO STRANGERS ARE STRANGERS ARE A FEW OF THE LONG LIST OF THINGS WE SHO SHOULD LD NOT SAY SAYA A DO BOOK OK has just juat been published that professes to teach the art of ot conversation and to be bo a tt lamp to the feet and a ii guide ulde to the theton ton ue of ot those who flounder mound In dumb misery among strangers It tells what bal to on various arlou and oc- oc occasion occasions T rM iou vou OU say casion It equips you e with lib Ith merr merry ests to set the aS S table talle In ln a roar u it prO OU on with Ith snappy little MF Gt S ai about e weather end and original IF S iSi about abot the decorations at at parties and aud otherwise wise fits out the conscientious student to be a spellbinder instead of ot a dumbbell I Without doubt such a 5 volume meets a long long- longfelt felt want and will be received with gratitude Snot not only by the themselves but hut by bythe bythe bythe S the balance blanco of us who ho often feel at dinner parties that we have been called upon to work out more than our passage by attempt attempt- attemptIng attempting ing to up a 10 flow of small sm talk with those Aa whose entire vocabulary consists of no ne and f yes CS and nothing else elGe DOROTHY DI DI such circumstances v o aro arc ired to to J o welcome even eten e en canned com el and careS care lully fully memorized funny stories with tears of ot gratitude More lore powel then to the book which teaches us what hilt to sa sai sav Ma Mav its sales In Increase crease But the handy manual manu 1 of conversation for which there Is Isa Isa t ta a crying need Is one that will tech teach people what not to say for outbursts of silence are at l least innocuous They do not harm The thing that stabs slabs like a two edged sword Is the un- un unguarded unguarded unguarded guarded tongue Of course the list of the things we should not say Is end end- endless endless endless less but the world would be a brighter and a happier place If nwe we were all taught to think before we speak and not to wound woundS skeleton from Its S people by a careless word that drags some closet and makes an old wound throb anew there Is no need of discussing unfaithful husbands with a aJ SURELY S J deserted wife iCe nor discoursing about prison with th a mother whose hose only son is behind the thc bars or telling a humorous story about abou a 1 cripple to a maimed soldier I We might be taught to hold public post postmortems mortems In which we dig up the bones bonu of our ancestors and hold publiC worship over them or tell how great and rich we used to ne be Or worse st still II to recount all the thc troubles we have had and demand that our listeners shall weep over the sorrows that should have been years ago THEN HEN EN we might be taught not to talk about ourselves or our chil children J dren or our possessions or the things we have done or the things thing we are arc going to do for these matters are of o Interest to no other huma human being under the sun except ourselves cs We might be taught to keep silent concerning our aches ano anCl pains and our major oper operations for few are morbid enough to enjoy listening to the details of hospital clinics And more especially should we be he taught to refrain from telling asick a 11 asick sick person that his symptoms are exactly those of our Aunt Maria Marla who died a horrible death after she had spent a fortune fortuno on doctors and sanitariums trying In vain aln ain to get cure cured n ia SHOULD be taught not to offer gratuitous criticism When wesee we WI VU t L A 1 1 At 1 like the 4 A wrath ot of f TV see a friend with a hat on that makes her look 1001 ff Sod iod od it is not our business to destroy her ller pleasure in It by telling telling- her so O Neither Is It up to us to acquaintance that we do not like Jus itis new now house or the make of o automobile he has boughtor that w- w rio do lo no not approve of o the wa was s In which he lie is brInging up his hs Ye Ve graW our own taste and desires Other people have hate a ight to express theirs and hat hat they do Is none of o our altair We might be taught not to ta give unsought advice especially In the bosom of our families and more particularly to our chil chil- children children dren The reason that family life is so often a failure Is be because be- be because because cause everybody in it feels that he ho or she has a right to tell everybody else exactly what they shall do and shall not doI doF do doOF F FATHERS rATHERS and mhers mothers could only learn what hat not to say to their IF I OF children they O A could sa sate e n the MIA perpetual nAT bickering that goes on on In ci- ci rr 1 most every household In which there are growing bos and girls that breaks the parents hearts and that drives es children nay away se n ay from home as soon eoon as they can get away awa It It is the nagging Where are ou ning Why are you ou going there How long al aie ame e vou ou going to stat sta dont don't ou do this Why dont don't ou do that tint makes make the chil chil- children chil- chil children children dren furious and does doCs no good and vet et the father and mother enough sense s nse to refrain retrain froia fron Sa saving Baling it And we could be taught no not to say the things to those of our household that we would never be rude enough to say to strangers When our husbands launch out out on their favorite favorite favorite stories why should we tell them that we have heard them before We smile appreciatively over chestnuts us by other people Why should we tell our wives that they dont don't know wha what they are talking about when we listen respectfully to a 11 million fool opinions from fool women outside of our t homes Why should we make a child still more self conscious and awkward by publicly calling attention to Its faults Why should we reserve all of our cruel speeches for family consumption consumption tion AND AND ND we might be taught never neter to sa eav I 1 told vou ou eo so which Is rub rubbing ruba a bing In n another's another m mistake The sporting thing is to let Bygones bG be beb b gones But Dut why hy multiply Instances of the things tImings we e 8 al should uld not sa say 7 Surely the millennium will have arrived when we learn how to keep silence Hence ut a guard upon you your r tongues tong ues DIX t 1923 1323 by Public Ledger Company |