OCR Text |
Show THE AMERICAN WAYj JOHNNY HAS iSw.' WHAT IT TAKES V 4T' By George PfrkL, MtJ The following story lold by Walter A. Dales appeared in the Wyoming Slate JournaL published publish-ed at Lander, Wyoming: "Give the paper boy a quarter," quart-er," may wife said when the bell rang. "Johnny always gets a quarter." "Always someone to tip," I thought. "What a world!" I opened open-ed the door. A huge grin spread across Johnny's face. "The lady likes to pay for her paper Saturday," he said. He made it sound like a special service serv-ice not a routine collecting job. "How much?" I was still gruff. "Eighteen cents, sir." I waited to hear him explain that "the lady likes to give me a , quarter." Instead he just kept grinning flashed the change back so quickly I finally smiled. "Forget it," I said. ; "Oh, thank you, sir." He said it spontaneously. ! "Good morning, Mrs. Dale," he sang out as my wife came on the scene. "Hear about the accident? Little girl on the next street-hurt street-hurt bad. We'll have the story in our final edition." Even with his shabby clothes you could, visualize him as a future publisher publish-er himself. "Ill try to get it a-round a-round early tonight." He did. Ten minutes early. My wife grabbed it to find out how the little girl was. Johnny was quicker than- page one. "Looks like she's gonna be all right, Mrs. Dale." In concluding his story Dale remarks, "I began to wonder why Nora gave Johnny only two bits." It is hardly possible that Johnny John-ny had read Dale Carnegie's "How To Win Friends And Influence In-fluence People," but somehow he had subconsciously picked up the knack of converting a pessimistic grouch into a friendly optimist. No one need worry about Johnny's John-ny's future. He's going places and on his own steam. He has what it takes. And somehow I couldn't help thinking of Johnny as I read an editorial in the Circle-News, published pub-lished by and for the employees of the B. F. Goodrich Co.. Akron, Ohio. Johnny so distinctly belongs be-longs to the one groun described therein. The editor of the Circle News takes over from here on: . There will probably always be two groups of people the pessimists pes-simists and the optimists the "doubters," and those who are willing to, expend thir energies to make new ideas workable. I Four years ago there were' some who doubted that we could . be victorious over the Axis pow-1 ers, but fortunately for the Al- , lies, there were many others who j believed that hard work and I fighting would win for them the privilege of living as free men. Today the pessimists have lst confidence in the American gpirlt of free enterprise and exprci fears and doubts, while the na-tion na-tion s optimists proceed to solv the knotty problems of rtcon-version. rtcon-version. .Thde,?P?irlnS attitude of the doubter" is exemplified in the following story, which effectively effect-ively illustrates the uselessnegs of taking the "bound-to-go-wrong stand. A large crowd lined lin-ed the banks of the Hudson when -Robert Fulton prepared to make a test run of his "outlandiih steamboat contraption, the Clermont." Cler-mont." For several hours, in the presence of many spectators, the strange craft belched smoke and sparks from its tall, thin smokestack smoke-stack as the engineers attempted to get the necessary head steam. When the time to cast off had come and the engines were being limbered up, the boat vibrated violently and loudly. A group of doubting Thomases on shore shouted scornfully, "She'll never start!" Nevertheless, the boat pulled itself together, moving slowly up the river and then gaining speed. There was a moment of astonished astonish-ed silence - then the scoffers resumed re-sumed their shouts, this time crying cry-ing with all the scorn they could muster: "She'll never stop! She'll never nev-er stop!" |