Questionable Amusements and Worthy SubstitutesJudy, J. M.
Religion
Questionable Amusements and Worthy Substitutes
Judy, J. M.
Amusements -- Religious aspects -- Methodist Church; Christian ethics
Almost any person
can say something bright as well as sensible, if he will give a little
attention to it beforehand. While the second and third tables are being
served, let those retiring contest at games of skill, converse, or take
up other appropriate entertainment directed by the everywhere present
entertainment committee. By this time half-past ten or eleven o'clock,
some who are old, or who have pressing duties on the next day may want
to retire. If the serving committee have been skillful in adjusting
the time spent at each table to the number of tables, etc., by eleven
o'clock the serving shall have been completed. Now, the young in spirit,
whether old or young, expect, and should have an hour at the
newest, liveliest, and most recreative games. No part of the evening
entertainment should be allowed to drag. To insure this a frequent
change of social games is needed.
AVOID LATE HOURS.
As late hours tend to produce irregularity in sleep, in meals, and in
work; and since the object of the social is recreation, the company
should retire about midnight. Oftentimes people stay and stay at such a
gathering, until the hostess, the entertaining committee, and the people
themselves are worn out. And yet, who is at fault? This is a critical
point in the modern popular social. How shall the company disband in due
season? In his "Autocrat of the Breakfast Table," Oliver Wendell Holmes
gives a suggestion on this point for the private visitor, who does not
know how to go. Says Holmes: "Do n't you know how hard it is for some
people to get out of a room when their visit is really over? They want
to be off, and you want to have them off, but they do n't know how to
manage it. One would think they had been built in your parlor or study
and were waiting to be launched. I have contrived a sort of ceremonial
inclined plane for such visitors, which being lubricated with
certain smooth phrases, I back them down, metaphorically speaking,
stern-foremost, into their 'native element,' the great ocean of
outdoors." There are social companies as hard to get rid of as this.
They want to go, and every one wants them to go, but just how to make
the start, no one seems to know. Dr. Holmes and his "inclined plane"
may have been successful with the private caller, but who will be the
"contriver of a ceremonial," one sufficient to land the social company
into its "native element, the great ocean of outdoors?" No, this most
delicate of the problems involved in a successful modern social must be
left to a tactful hint from the entertainment committee, and to the wise
choice of a few recognized leaders in the company.
NEW COMMITTEES.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account