Does it Pay to be Idle?

by Mrs. A. J. Wilder. Mansfield, Missouri.

Sometimes Misdirected Energy May Cease to be a Virtue

A stranger once went to a small inland town, in the Ozarks, to look over the country. As he left the little hotel, in the morning, for his day's wandering among the hills, he noticed several men sitting comfortably in the shade of the "gallery," gazing out into the street.

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When the stranger returned late in the afternoon the "gallery" was still occupied by the same men, looking as though they had not stirred from their places since he left them there in the early morning.

This happened for three days and then as the stranger was coming in from his day's jaunt, in the evening he stopped and spoke to one of the men. "Say," he asked, "How do you fellows pass the time here all day? What do you do to amuse yourselves?"

The man emptied his mouth of its accumulation of tobacco juice and replied in a lazy drawl, "Oh we just set and -- think -- and  -- sometimes -- we -- jest -- set."

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I have laughed many times over this story, which I know to be true with never a thought, except for the humor of the tale beyond the hackneyed ones on the value of wasted times: the vice of idleness.

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We are told continually by every one interested in our welfare or in "making the world go round," how to employ one's spare moments, in the best advantage, until if we followed their advice, there would be no spare moments.

It is rank heresy, I knew, to detract from these precepts, but lately I have been wondering whether perhaps it is not as great a fault to be too energetic as it is to be too idle.

Perhaps it would be better all around if we were to "just set and think" a little more, or even sometimes "jest set."

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Vices are simply overworked virtues, anyway. Economy and frugality are to be commended, but follow them on in an increasing ratio and what do we find at the other end: A miser! If we over-do the using of spare moments we may find an them invalid at the end, while perhaps if we allowed ourselves more idle time we would conserve our nervous strength and health to more than the value of the work we could accomplish by emulating at times the little busy bee.

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I once knew a woman, not very strong, who to the wonder of her friends, went through a time of extraordinary hard work without any ill effects.

I asked her for her secret and she told me that she was able to keep her health, under the strain, because she took 20 minutes, of each day, in which to absolutely relax both mind and body. She did not even "set and think." She lay at full length, every muscle and nerve relaxed and her mind as quiet as her body. This always relieved the strain and renewed her strength.

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I spent a delightful day not long ago, visiting in a home where there are several children and the little mother not over strong. She is doing nothing to add to the family income; has no special work of her own to earn some pin money but the way she has that little family organized would be a lesson in efficiency to many a business man. The training she is giving the children and the work she is doing in preparing them to mend the problems of life and become self-supporting, self-respecting citizens could not be paid for in money.

The children all help and the work for the day goes forward with no confusion. There is nothing left undone because one person thought another was to do it. There are no whines such as "I did that yesterday; let sister (or brother) do it this time." Each child has a particular part of the work to do. Each knows what their work is and that he is responsible for that work being done as it should be.

One of the girls does the upstairs work, another has the care of the parlor, dining room and library. The two smaller girls must keep their playthings in order and not leave their belongings scattered around the house. The mother does the cooking and washing the dishes. The places of each are changed from time to time that there may be no unfairness and that each may learn to do the different kinds of work. One boy keeps water in the house, milks the cow and keeps the motor car clean. Another boy brings in the wood and runs errands. Each receives, for the work done, a few cents a week and this is their spending money to do with as they please. When it is spent there is no teasing for a few cents to spend for this or that. They know the amount of their income and plan and spend accordingly. In this way they are learning the value of money: to work for what they want instead of begging for it and to live within their income. If their work is not well done, a fine of a few cents is a better punishment than a scolding or a whipping, leaving both parties with their self respect uninjured, while the child can see that the punishment fits the crime.

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"I don't know what to do with Edith," said a mother to me. "I've no idea where she learned it, but she is a regular little liar. I can't depend on a thing she says."

Edith was a very bright, attractive child about three years old. Just then she started to go into another room, "Oh! Don't go in there!" her mother exclaimed. "It is dark in there and there is a bad dog behind the door." The child opened the door a crack, peeped around it, smiled a knowing smile and went on in. Evidently she knew her mother and that she "could not depend on a thing she said," that she was "a little---" Sounds ugly, doesn't it? Perhaps I would better not quote it at all, but where do you suppose Edith learned to be untruthful?

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When I went to San Francisco last summer, I left The man Of The Place and his hired man to "batch it." There were no women relatives near, no near neighbors with whom they could board and of course it was out of the question to hire a girl to stay with two lone men.

I was sorry for them, but our only child lives in San Francisco and I had not seen her for four years. Besides, there was the fair, so I left them and went.

Now the man of the place says, "If any man thinks housekeeping is easy work and not all a women ought to do, just let him roll up his sleeves and tackle the job."

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More than any other business, that of farming depends upon the home and it is almost impossible for any farmer to succeed without the help of the house. In the country the home is still depended upon to furnish bed and board and the comforts of life.

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It is a good idea sometimes to think of the importance and dignity of our every-day duties. It keeps them from being so tiresome: besides, others are apt to take us at our own valuation.

Mrs. A. J. Wilder. "Does it Pay to be Idle?" Missouri Ruralist,  (February  20, 1916), page 11. The article is accompanied by a drawing (in profile) of a woman sitting in a rocking chair, reading what is obviously a letter.  CLICK HERE to see this article as it originally appeared in the Missouri Ruralist.

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