CONVERSATION

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 902, 20 February 1930, Page 5

CONVERSATION

Conversation is just about the most important asset a human being has. In fact, the greatest difference between a dumb animal and a brilliant human being is the power of speech, and the greatest power of speech is conversation! There are quite a lot of different sorts of conversation. For instance, there is the frank and interesting kind that we use among ourselves, and the disguised kind that we often have to use in the presence of the family. And, of course, there are all sorts of objects in conversation. It can be just a means of cheering up the crowd, or it can be an interchange of really deep thoughts, or it can be used for a purpose such as attracting a new beau as well as holding the interest of the best one. Sometimes, of course, when we don’t care anything about any one present, it can revert to automatic. This means just a parrot-echo of childhood' training when we were,never allowed to say an unprompted thought. Still I can’t say it would improve things much were we to tell the untrimmed truth. Among those who are not admitted to the frankness of our thoughts we say the automatic things, but among ourselves we say really what we think. Or at least we never say what we don’t. You see, it’s perfectly obvious that if out of politeness we all just make up answers to please, what possible value would there be in our answering nothing? The sort of conversation that fascinates a man is another one of those talents that you have or haven’t! If you have it you know it! If you haven’t and don’t know it you’d better find out. Anyway, it’s awfully safe to learn to be the opposite thing of a talker, which is a perfect listener. This means that you try to get him to talk while you do the sympathetic listening. Talent for conversation in a crowd is mostly a gift. It is really a sort of actress talent combined with a genius for collecting news. ABOUT HATS Hats are going to be of quite a different shape. They will, for instance, have either a neck frill, or wideness on either side of the face, but the forehead will still be exposed. The lovely waves—or even the straight fringe which is being adopted by more and more women—will be gently pushed up when the hat is put on, leaving exposed a little of the forehead and, of course, the eyebrows, which must be properly attended to. There is no need to have them plucked so relentlessly that there is scarcely a thread left., but you must have the curve properly accentuated to give the correct character.