Personality Adjustment for Conversation : Page 164

The involuntary offenses against tact are legion. A girl says, "I got an A on my last theme in Professor Cole's English." "Oh," answers the other, "I hear Professor Cole gives lots of A's." Once a lady, meeting me with friends, happily declared, "I feel quite proud. Dr. App has invited me to talk to his drama class on Broadway plays I saw." Thereupon the student in the group pipes up, "Oh, yes, Dr. App is always getting people to address us." Once I said to a hardware dealer, "My, that's a fine new product." Thereupon he brightly underlined my ignorant enthusiasm by saying, "It's wonderful. We have been handling it for the past fifteen years." A fellow proudly announces that he had a date with Louise Mulligan last night, whereupon the other, not meaning ill but doing it just the same, responds, "That's fine. I guess Louise has by this time been dated by half the fellows in town." A friend of mine announced that he had just made a down payment on a new house. I congratulated him, when the fellow next to me chimed in,