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Show Kathleen Norris Says: Successful Guest Must Be Amusing, Useful Bell Syndicate WOT Features. pa Ul nil Ml Ibfl if'L Mi WfLMfk TtW" When Bob and Belinda come to a party they pick out the least amusing of the guests and work on them. Belinda's joyous laughter is echoed by the host's dull partner. Bob's nonsense impresses even the host's grim mother. A GOOD GUEST Do you want to be popular? Do you want to be included in everything your crowd does? Then be a good guest.' There are those like the Bob and Belinda of this story who give more than they get. And there are others who let the host and hostess shoulder all the responsibility for their entertainment. en-tertainment. They are never asked anywhera, and they wonder won-der why. To be a good friend, Kathleen Kath-leen Norris says, is a fine art. And to be a good guest takes an equal amount of skill and patience, but you will find it well worth the effort. wrungout rag when they leave. They do nothing for a party but wreck it. Muriel always is the best-dressed woman present; she somehow makes the other women feel conscious con-scious of old clothes. She is a nervous, nerv-ous, critical, proud woman who keeps everyone else in a constant state of fe,ar that Muriel isn't having a good time. Any interruption of a story that Muriel is telling fills her with a sense of deep pity for poor Jean. Jean's dreadful servant, Jean's troublesome trou-blesome baby, Jean's responsibility for the salad dressing, the door bell and the telephone cause Muriel to say admiringly, "My dear, I don't see how you put up with all this. It's simply dreadful!" Annoys Her Hearers. If any man or woman she doesn't happen to know well, and approve, is sitting neglected for a moment in Jean's parlor, Muriel never makes the slightest effort at entertainment She lowers her long eyelashes and looks at the floor. At the table she By KATHLEEN NORRIS MOST persons go to a party to have a good time. The host and hostess are supposed to see that they have it. To tea, dinner, cocktails, dances the guests crowd eagerly. eag-erly. Somebody else is taking the responsibility; all they need do is have fun. The host and hostess divide their guests into two classes. The large class that takes; the very small class that gives. To which do you belong? be-long? Among my friends are a couple who are not in any way distinguished distin-guished by position, achievements, looks or wealth. They are in the late thirties now, Bob and Belinda; for 15 years they have been eagerly sought as guests, and for the remainder of their lives'1 they need never worry about invitations to anything that is going on in their large and hospitable group. They are asked everywhere. People are always begging them to come down to Florida; to save two weeks in July for Lake George; to promise the week-end ; to remember remem-ber Thursday the fifth; to think about the California plan. And the reason is, in the slang of the day, that they GIVE. Share Hostess Troubles. When Bob and Belinda come to a party they quite inconspicuously keep an eye on their hostess, and they share her troubles. They pick out the least amusing of the guests and work on them. Belinda's gale of joyous laughter is echoed by the host's hopelessly dull, heavy, silent partner; Bob's nonsense makes an impression even upon the host's contributes nothing to the conversation, conversa-tion, and when small mishaps occur she looks -deeply pained sorry again for poor Jean! When anyone mentions a play or a book Muriel crushes it at orice; she says it is rather like a much better play or book that only she has seen. If she can possibly correct anyone's pronunciation pro-nunciation she does it by immediately immedi-ately using the mispronounced word; if she can annoy her hearers by employing French or Italian phrases she never spares them. Her husband has one topic, sport The shooting of deer, doves, rabbits, the catching of trout and steelhead and marlin are Guy's sole interest; it never occurs to him that other men have better things to do. After several cocktails Guy becomes noisy and tactless and he and Muriel quarrel. quar-rel. This is the simple truth of it, though it sometimes takes their friends months or even years to discover dis-cover that neither Guy nor Muriel really adds anything to the general pleasure of any group. If young couples just starting out in life could study their list of friends carefully, and weed out those who are only trouble-makers, only destined to become more and more of a burden, much later discomfort would be spared all 'round. Unfortunately, when a man and woman first are married, each one brings to the partnership a legacy of dear old friends. No one element ele-ment in marriage is more dangerous danger-ous than these same jolly persons, who refuse to recognize the fact that anything is changed, and want to go right on with the irresponsible old round of restaurants, nightclubs, night-clubs, dances, ball games and college col-lege gossip. One of the newlyweds likes this sort of thing, but to the other it is apt to be gall and wormwood. grim mother. A gap in the table conversation is broken by Belinda's voice: "Have we ever done this game?" A flaw in the service is filled by Bob with a tray of canapes, going about in as businesslike a manner as though he were one of the caterer's men. If the telephone rings Belinda may quite casually answer it; if coats slide off the chair in the foyer Bob restores them to place. Bob and Belinda never drop in on young married friends at about five in the afternoon and remain until ten minutes of eight, when the bridegroom bride-groom is savage with hunger and the bride frantic because it is now no longer practicable to have the artichokes and roast pork for dinner. If they do come in for a late afternoon after-noon cup of tea and a chat they always al-ways relieve the anxious minds of the newlyweds by a definite statement: state-ment: "We're going at six; we have an iron-bound date." Keep Their Word. No, they don't begin at this point that detestable vacillation that breaks the hearts of the householders. household-ers. "We could stay, I suppose, Bob? We could telephone Alice." Bob and Belinda say when they are going, and they go. And often they drag with them some other friend or friends who are upsetting all Jean's dinner plans and drinking drink-ing up Joe's gin. "Come along, Helen," Hel-en," they say hardily, "Jean and Joe didn't ask us to stay the weekend week-end and she has to get dinner started." start-ed." On the other hand there are the Bakers, who are asked nowhere. The Bakers have the advantages of money and position, and they are really concerned not to find themselves them-selves popular. But the truth is that Muriel and Guy are difficult Euests, and the hostess feels like a |