A SECOND LINE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 191, 14 August 1931, Page 12

A SECOND LINE

VALUABLE IN EMERGENCY. i j EVERY WOMAN NEEDS IT. Everyone will agree that the secret of being able to get on in this world, that is not for all of us quite “the best of all possible worlds,’’ is to have resources to fall back upon should our main prop give way. If we have to earn our living, for instance, it is very desirable to be able to earn it by various means, or at least to know we have a choice or means. Few people can make them selves proficient or expert in more than one subject, perhaps; but it is generally possible to have another subje • in w'hich one may be well informed another craft in which one is fairly expert. This is what we mean by having a “second line” to fall back upon. It sometimes happens, too, that the second line has advantages not possessed by the first, and this being so, it may become the best one to pursue It may hold more “possibilities.” It is doubtful if any profession shows this more than the teacher profession does, states an English writer, or presents more disappointments and rebuffs! And it would be difficult to cite one more likely, on the other hand, to offer greater opportunities to such as know how to adapt themselves to changing times. It is particularly necessary that teachers should, when they can, be able to fall back upon a second line, should their first one fail. To do so helps them to meet emergencies as nothing else can, and “rise to the occasion.” Post Already Filled. Here is a typical English instance and a true one. .A girl who had qualified for and taken a science degree, had also at the same time qualified in cookery and housewifery, in order, as she laughingIp said, to “have a second line to fall back upon in <case the first should fail.” She applied by letter for a post as assistant science mistress in a large high-class boarding-school in the country, and followed up her application in person, as she thought an interview might help. She was very kindly received, hut the principal regretted she had had her journey for nothing, as the post was already filled. While she was being given some refreshment they entered into conversation, and presently the principal mentioned that she was seeking someone to supervise the housekeeping and cooking, a post far less easy to fill than that of any teacher, and did her visitor happen to know anyone suitable? Being of quick wit, and sure of her own capabilities, the bachelor of science offered her services then and there, told of her qualifications, and she was accepted on the spot. It was her second line, and she fell back h upon it, which was a.so a stroke of good generalship, since she obtained a post with a salary nearly double that iof the one she had been seeking—- ’ with shorter and more definite hours, 1 a sitting room to herself, and no supervision of pupils such as falls to the lot of many mistress of boarding schools after school hours. Be Practical One could multiply instances easily but that is little to our point. What I want to stress is the fact that in order to meet emergencies, it is well in choosing a second line to make that a practical one. After all, we live in a world where : practical people are more needed than 1 any others. But the value of having ! mastered some practical art or craft is that it is fairly safe to yield a living in whatever circumstances one may be placed. Look Beyond the Moment But the real point involved in making the most of opportunity lies in seeing through the immediate advantage to something beyond. Opportunities should always hold possibilities. It is perhaps unfur. f mte that we cannot always see those possibilities at the first. We fail back on the lower level, and think ourselves “too good” for this or that type of work, and so fail to recognise that by filling the humble position, until it overflows, we show our poxver to fill the larger place.