OCR Text |
Show Dorothy Dix Talks EFFICIENCY REAL AND THEORETIC j Hv UOKolli; I j J X . the Vxrld's liigboataid Oman .Writer j "O Kfflcicno. what crlnips arc com-ftlltted com-ftlltted In lliv nHiiK .'' we ml;lit Well cry cut. as Malan Kullan.l aald of liberty as he was belnfc taken to the ecaftold to die in Its name. Kor these b: the d.ivs when we hnve I made a little tin Rod of system, and when wo conaldtr it iIouk act la sacrl- flee every comfort, r.i eonvenlpce.and. Imule on the altar of routine, which fabe prophets have assured us la the DIM ;inl only way by which, wo may achieve efficiency. This process of turning human beings Inlo automatic sclf-stanlnjr and yclf-Btopplng yclf-Btopplng maeblncp, h!is beeji a vosuc amontj man for -several years where, by the way. It hasn't worked out accprolng to schedule. "But It Is one of the theories that sound so plausible that anyone Will . give It the trial once, anyhow. And now n strenuous effort Is being made to introduce It Into the home If sou pick nnv woman's magazine you will, find a carefully w6rked out budew com- piled bv old maids and old bachelors. . and wealthy atatlstlclans. who have never, personally grappled with the problem of I i. . ling and clothing six or seven children, on a shoestrlnp income, telling you Just exactly how every penny should be spent. Thev know precisely how many pairs 1 of shoes 'Johnnie is entitled to wear put, and how often the baby has a right to be lek, and all the other financial details, that balance so nicely on .in Imaginary i ledger, and that come 10 su h grief on the rtal books of dully life. And when you have found out just ex-1 Kctly how lo spread yur husband s pay-envelope pay-envelope so that everything Irom the corner BTOfcen to the moving picture Rets, Its fair pro rata, j on may cast your wo on the schedule bv which the housewife ( should pattern her day If she wishes to be really' efficient It reads something like this: " , ! Arise fix-thirty. Say pravers 6:i; i I nthe r.:35 lo 6.10. drfrU 6 t" to 7. i to I 7 30 lreMire breakfast 7;30 to 7:15 eat i ! breakfast. 7:4". to 7.5'J get children ready for school. 7 o? to s.01 klaa husband and children a cto-. r Bpodbye as they start to work and school. 8.01 to 9 clean up, house. 9 to 11 eew. 12 to 12 :0 prepare lunch. 12 30 to 1 serve lunch. 1 to 1:301 clean up after lunth 1.30 lo J dress self ami baby 1 to lake bab) for airing, and do marketing. 3 to 4 visit friends. 4 to S sew 6 to 6 prepare dinner I to 8:30 onverse with children. 6:30 to 7 serve dinner 7 to 7:30 clean up dishes and kitchen 1:30 to 10 entertain husband hus-band 10 to r, ,10 sleep. Repeat schedule next day and every dav ns lone at you live, or until the put ! you In an insane asylum where yon suffer from the hallucination that you are chas ing an alarm clock and can never keep j up w ith It. , , . , . ' Now I contend tnat tnc amiaoie iueo-i iueo-i rlsts who have Chopped a woman's day , i lnli thla sort of mncemeat fragments ' .;ich minute of which has Its appointed lask know nothing aboul either women, or housekeeping. In tho first place. , housekeeping Is one of the occupations thai cannot be run upon any cattrlrott Kc-hedule. because the very essence of It It l-s uncertainty Sickness, bltth, death.; all the whole drama Of Ufa urc pitted j against any routine In It. You can't go on with your little cut-and-drled program when a new life Is oomlnc across the threshold, or your j heart'! beloved Is being borne out of the door, or all the Joy bells are ringing, j for you. or black despair has paralyzed you with horror. And. for another thing women arc not i 'creatures of routine. They are simply nol built that wav. They are tempera-mental tempera-mental Xhei l ave to put their heart :n their work to do good work, and they inn only do this upon Impulse. You might as well expect a poet to rompow a matchless sonnet because it is 9 o'clock and the time has come for him to write a sonct, as for a woman to be able lo break her record ai darning, darn-ing, or cake-making just becauso she hos reached te darning or cake-making minute on her schedule Every woman will tell you thtit if she waits until she freiv in tilt mood for sewing, or cooking, or wakes up some morning with her hands Itching for hc dust pan nnd Ihc broom, she can do more work In an hour than she can In a whole day if she forces herself at the task when, she has an Inward shrinking from It. Of course in ecry business there has to pa some sort of orderly routine This is also true of housekeeping where meals must be served on time, and beds made and floors swept but lt is one of the consolations of house work that It gives a woman more leeway than any other occupation. This Is welL. because lt la the most monotonous work In the world. It Is the labor with the fewest thrills to It. Other occupations bring to the worker at least companionship with others Housework is mostly rolltarv. and because a womaV does walk the treadmill all alone, is the more reason why she should not let herself be made the slave of system If she knows days, and months, and years before hand Jusl exactly what she Is going to do every minute of the time, she will find her tak unendurable Who j could bear to know that at 9 o'clock on every Wednesday as long as they live, thfv will be washing dishes.' Thev will tell you in New England that it Is the methodical country housewives who have washed on Mondays. Ironed on Tuesday. Cleaned up on Crluays. baked on Saturdays Satur-days and rock-d Ln the same place In their chairs unill they have worn grooves in the floor, who fill the asylums. None of us want to do the same things at the same time every dy. We even feel like biting ihe people we have to kiss every day. so I urge housewles to chuck the system theorv out of their windows 'jet as much variety into your WOrk as you can by doing it at different times and in different ways fJo on cooking cook-ing orgies, anil cleaning bats, and have res' u, spells .md do them all when ;.on fill :m Inward urge that way Tne real test of efficiency Is getting things done. It doesn't matter how. or whin ou do a thing, so you do it properly prop-erly oo |