"THUMBS-UP" CAMPAIGN

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 6, 6 July 1940, Page 10

"THUMBS-UP" CAMPAIGN

(To the Editor.)

Sir, —I have before me a copy of "Neptune," a magazine that is pubiished in England, giving a pictorial record of the progress of our Navy in j the war at sea, and one picture in par-! ticular gave me considerable food for thought. The picture is entitled, "A Happy 'Exeter' Man." There he is, surrounded by his shipmates, photographed shortly after their return to England from the now world-famous British naval victory at the River Plate. Are these men looking downhearted, depressed, pessimistic? No, Sir, they are all smiling and laughing, and of particular importance, the central figure,- "A happy Exeter man," is* giving the "thumbs-up" signal- with! both hands. ; Some readers may say, "Of course, they are jubilant, they have just had a victory." To these people I say that the self-same "Exeter" men and Achilles and Ajax and all British naval men —R.A.F. men and the Army—face up to whatever may come, with grim determination that the ultimate out- i come must be and will be victory. I That spirit of determination and j optimism is the spirit we need in New I Zealand today. Too .many people have I a "defeatist" outlook. They sit gloomily ' listening to the news over the radio — | read it in the newspapers, and then go i out and discuss it with a pessimistic viewpoint. Without denying the gravity of the j situation, and without suggesting that j we should adopt a flippant, optimistic! viewpoint, surely we have sufficient of! that real British spirit that has always enabled Britishers to take it "on the chin"—come up for more, still take it, yet win in the end —that spirit of | determination, courage, and inborn optimism that history shows is a tradition of the British race. To every; reader who feels as I do, I say, "Use ) the thumbs-up sign and a smile" when- \ ever you greet a friend, particularly a J pessimist. Encourage your friends to ! do likewise. I am confident that the psychological reaction throughout. New Zealand would be most valuable upon I I the morale and general welfare of the i 'people of this Dominion. So join the I "Thumbs-up League"—use the thumbs•up sign and a smile to everybody.—l ] am, etc., i i ERIC A. CLARK. [