IGNORANCE PAYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 4048, 13 October 1931, Page 66

IGNORANCE PAYS.

Take shopping, which is still the chief feminine vocation. Most of us know less about meat than we think we do, certainly we know much less than the butcher. A show of knowledge from his customer is apt to alienate the salesman’s sympathies, and if he sees that she is making a mistake he will be content not to enlighten her. After all, she is acting on her own responsibility. But the customer who confesses that she is completely ignorant, and then explains that she is depending on his skill, places him in a delicate situation. Apart from his chivalry, which might fluctuate with his customer’s attractions, he has his reputation to consider. He is put on his mettle to cut the exact piece of meat which will make this particular dinner a success; as an artist he will do his best. Moreover, he is flattered by the deference to his opinion, and as a man he will do his best. The same reasoning applies to shopping at the grocer’s and the fruiterer’s.

With clothes it is more difficult. People who sell clothes are, on the whole, much less efficient than people who sell food, but a tactful appeal for advice may make the sales girl shed her indifference and produce a greater variety. Londoners often pride themselves on knowing their own town. Many of them do, in the sense that they do not get lost, but the woman who asks a policeman will reach her destination much sooner than the independent who relies on her own experience. It is merely foolish not to avail oneself of the vast store of information which knowledgeable people are anxious to impart. The art of using other people's brains is the most useful in the world, but this applied wisdom should never be disturbed by any sign of intelligence within. A friend of mine moved some years ago from one town to another. When the removal men came they found half their work done for them. She prides herself on her packing, so the china was ready for the van; she is methodical, so the contents of her drawers were carefully arranged in boxes for transport. She had not asked whether this was necessary, because she was confident that anything she did herself would be done better than if she left it for a deputy.

Afterwards she said proudly that only two cups and three glasses had been broken, and she finished her unpacking by a superhuman effort in two days. Recently, I moved myself. I had not enjoyed my friend’s preliminaries, and I know nothing about packing and I am not methodical. When the men came for my furniture they found the house in ■ a normal condition. They packed swiftly and without comment. The drawers were left untouched and roped in place. When they arrived at the new house they unpacked the china and so on before they went away, and there was nothing left for me to do except sweeping and dusting.

Ignorance, as always, paid!—Hom& Chat.