A Lesson in Courtesy

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 22, 1914

A Lesson in Courtesy

A YOUNG man recently visited this city to secure an important position, for which he had been recommended by influential friends. The car in which he found a seat was soon crowded. Immediately in front of him stood a woman old enough to be his grandmother. She bumped against him once or twice, to his evident annoyance. Then an old gentleman got up and beckoned her to take his seat. This ended the first chapter.

The next morning the young man prepared for his call at his hoped-for new place of business. The president of the company turned to meet him with a smile when his name was announced, but the smile faded, and the face which greeted him was stern. "Yes," they had "had letters," they "had thought favorably of him, but —" and the interview ended.

One of his friends called on the president for an explanation. He was told the story of the old lady in the car. "But," he said, "I don't see that this concern has a right to dictate to its employees that they must give their seats to women in public conveyances." "It does not dictate," said the president, "but the man for this place must have peculiar characteristics. He must be courteous and considerate and helpful and patient and cheerful. A young man of twenty-five who can let a woman of seventy stand while he sits, has not the disposition necessary to fill this position."—A Cincinnati paper.