Manchester High School - Somanhis Yearbook (Manchester, CT)

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SOMANHIS EVENTS 33 An Englishman, coming to America for the first time, is rather taken back on reaching New York. He has heard much in Europe of the nervous ten- sion of the Americans, of their electric energy in business and pleasure. — Im- agine the sensation and conceive the disillusion met by an Englishman when he finds that the crowds on the sidewalks, in subways, in both business and residential sections, seem to walk in a more leisurely way than do similar crowds in London. Nevertheless things in New York do move fast—but the Englishman has heard so much about it that he is disappointed. Englishmen, in fact all foreigners visiting or coming to America for the first time, say that: American houses and cars are like a lot of ovens. Our politicians are invariably below the average in intelligence and mor- als, The American voice has a grating quality that sets every nerve on edge. Now there is some truth in every one of these statements. Our houses are over-heated. We know ourselves whether or not our politicians are cor- rupt in morals and low in intelligence. That the Americans have a voice of grating quality which sets every nerve on edge is quite a fact. An English- man once said to an American lady, “Why do your drawl your words in that way?” “Well,” replied she, “Ud drawl all the way from Maine to Georgia rather than clip my words as you English people do!’ For example, let us compare the English and the American pronunciations of the word “military”. The English pronunciation is “milit-ary.”. The American pronunciation is “mil-i-ta-ry.” The Englishman is inclined to believe that we are greedy. He says, “The American chases after money with all its might exactly as on the tennis court he tries to hit the ball, and it is the game he likes and not the prize. If he loses he does not feel as if he had lost a part of himself, but only as if he had lost the last set in a tournament.” However, the wealthy Britisher spends his money differently from the American. Ile has a beautiful country place with lovely well-kept gardens, sweeping lawns, and greenhouses. Here he spends his leisure hours in quiet solitude, In America, they assert that the wealthy, while they do have just as spacious country homes, have them only for show or for pleasure parties. No one can be more than a week or two in America, especially in New England or in the western pa rt of the United States, without being conscious of the alert sympathy of the new people he finds around him, their quick de- sire to help even those whom they do not know. There are no bars of class distinction to keep people apart as in the continental countries, and this lends itself to a helpfulness and friendliness which is delightful to a visitor. The charity of Americans, both public and private, is boundless. The courtesy and the gracious manners of the people in educated circles could not be bet- tered in any society in the world. And yet, in spite of all this, the stranger from across the Atlantic, until he gets acclimated, is jarred and shocked by the new, unfamiliar manners of the people in the streets—the ordinary work- a-day people. They do not mean to be unmannered, of course, and would probably be immensely surprised if they were informed of the impression they make. The standard is different, that is all. A crowd on a subway is a good example. It is as different from a London or a Paris crowd, as Chicago is from Moseow. No person stands aside for another in a hurry. Rarely is there an apology. No one says, “Thank vou”, for a railway ticket. Rarely is there seen a smiling query or a friendly response between officials and pas- sengers. Yet boundless hospitality exists in most parts of America. Strang- ers are warmly welcomed, entertained, and made happy. Our frailties, peculiarities, and distinctions do make a rather pretentious showing. It is said that we can be identified in any part of the world by the way our elbows rest upon the table. his trait vexed an Englishman until he discovered our habit of eating corn—from the cob. If for some exceptional reason this sign fails, we may be known by our manner of cating soup. We are

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32 SOMANHIS EVBNTS open your eves to the impulses and the ideas that tend to direct their actions. You would be surprised to find how nearly they coincide with your own for- gotten ideas of youth. A few wise parents realize this. The fundamental idea is, after all, the pursuit of happiness. There should be some outlet, some vent, for youthful impulses. It is natural. The only difficulty is the control of the directions which the impulses take. The mod- ern ideas of recreation or amusement should not be compared with those of former times. Progress has caused us to change our ideas of amusements. If the modern ideas of convention seem slack and accommodating, it is be- cause modern customs have rendered it necessary to alter our standards of propriety. The reaction of our behavior upon our fellow-beings is one of res- ignation to the customary. Even the most extreme conduct is regarded with indifference, if not amusement. Is it that we are becoming immune to any antipathy to the personal and familiar freedom of thought which seems to pre- rail today? Rather is it a striking example of adaptability. We no longer evade temptation. Rather do we accept it, the majority sweeping by in an in- spiring self-confidence. The young people of today possess their own ideals as vividly as any gen- eration has ever done or may ever hope to do. However theid ideals are not marred by suspicion or doubt. Their standards are as high as any standards could be. The solution might be expressed best in the words of the “Golden Rule”, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Following this, your attitude toward young people would be one, not of censure and despair, but of sympathy and patience. You will find them to be simply accentuated types of your own souls, a confusion of impulses, emotions, and desires, needing your sympathetic guidance. The response to such an attitude would readi'y prove its value. ‘Vhrough such efforts, youth and age would come to a better, clearer understanding, a compromise that would tend to bring about a lasting faith in one another, a hope for the future and an uplifting spirit of love born of a feeling of sympathy and understanding. Annie Strickland '24, AS ENGLISHMEN SEE US A century and a half ago we Americans declared our independence from England, and started out a “new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Our manners, our customs, in fact, all things have so changed from the manners, customs, and habits of our mother country, England, that now sometimes we are hardly recognized as being derived from that nation. However, we are still mother and daugh- ter. The one, aggressively young, resents criticism and comparison; the oth- er, being older and having knocked about the world, is perhaps inclined to as- sume an attitude of superiority. England criticizes us on several scores. You all know what they are. In the first place, the size of America amazes the Englishman. Its vast- ness, its great lakes which are huge inland seas, its gigantic waterways, its mountains, its colossal size and immense population, (not immense for its area, for in places it is sparsely populated, but numerically immense) make it seem stupendous. And yet, despite this sense of vastness, a widely known Englishman once said, while visiting in America, “There is no scenery in the United States.” Our coast line with one or two exceptions, it seems to him, is thoroughly tame and uninteresting. The character and grouping of our Rocky Mountains are not “scenery in any proper sense”—and so on. We can see that this critic had in mind the varied magnificence of Switzerland, with its splendor of color in snow, verdure, and water effects.

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3+ SOMANHIS EVENTS the only people (they say) who fill the spoon by first moving it away from the body. The amount of gold displayed in the teeth is another safe token. As we have the best “fire brigades” because of the frequency of our fires, so we have the best dentists because our teeth are bad. And this probably is because of our love of sweets. “The love of sweet things, from candies to ice creams, is so great that even the postage stamps are sugared,” said an Englishman, of American habits. Our national habit of drinking ice water is always spoken of by foreigners. It is more indispensable than a napkin; and the waiter who will keep you wait- ing ten minutes for bread, will rush wildly for the bottle if your ice water sinks half an inch below the brim of the glass. Ring a bell at any hour of the night, a panting attendant dashes in with ice water. One of our English visitors, after traveling several months in the United States, showed concern because of our lack of humor. When he reached the Mississippi River, however, he expressed delight because he met a new kind of American who “sometimes understood a joke.” And this criticism was fixed upon the funniest people in the world—the Americans. Few of us have not heard at least a thousand of those merry tales to illustrate the sluggish way of the British in “seeing” our jokes, Englishmen find it extremely distasteful that the Americans, above all people, cannot leave home for England, or any country, without carrying their whole national belongings with them and bragging about the doings in America as compared with England or foreign countries. An Englishman, on his first visit to the United States, which was during the war, was over- heard to express his opinion of our bragging in the following manner: “Tm not going to like America—I can't stand these Yanks! = Did you hear how that fellow spoke at dinner tonight? What a nerve to say that his country could equip in three weeks, an army that would lick any British Army! They all teel that way in the States.” Professor Gilbert Murray, writing in an English periodical about the Pil- grim Fathers and their great adventure, discussed the English and the Amer- icans—and what they think of one another. He said really remarkable things about the feeling of the English toward their brethren here. “An immense mass of liberal-minded Englishmen,” he says, “insist on regarding the Amer- icans as something a little more than human, abnormally cool and generous and efficient, like the hero of a cinema play. We expect them,” he said, “to be better than they are, and it is wonderful how angry it makes them.” “An immense mass of liberal-minded Englishmen.” That means a good many. Then Doctor Murray thinks a great many Englishmen have this feel- ing toward America tnat he speaks of! Is there any other nation in the world, of which they should have formed such an absurd hope? They always seem to be expecting of America more than ought to be expected of any normal agglomeration of human beings. Edythe Schultz ‘24.