WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO-NIGHT?

New Zealand Listener, Volume 7, Issue 169, 18 September 1942, Page 14

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO-NIGHT?

| "T soot a story going the rounds a certain lady who rang up the captain of a visiting ship and invited six of the crew to dinner at her home, but mentioned that she had a particular aversion to Jews. On the appointed evening the lady accordingly answered her door to find six negro sailors waiting on her doorstep. Faltered the lady, "I think there must be some mistake." "Oh no, ma’am," said the spokesman for the group. " Cap’n Cohen, he never makes a mistake." But, according to Miss Jean Withington, who runs the Home Hospitality Service for the New Zealand-American Friendship Group, New Zealanders wha, ring up her bureau with offers of hospitality for visiting servicemen are more catholic in their tastes. At all events they seldom indicate negative preferences, although they are asked to indicate positive ones. The filing cabinets of the Home Hospitality bureau contain the names of over 200 Wellington families, with details of their chief interests and the type of hospitality they have to offer, For Almost All Tastes New Zealand as well as American men are catered for by the bureau. The serviceman strolls into the office and explains to the helper on duty just how he wishes to spend the evening. He may be interested in photography or Christian Science, in which case he is sent to a host who has similar interests. He may just want a quiet evening sitting by the radio thinking about the wife he left behind him, and the helper will then locate one of the many households which can provide just such a quiet evening. Or he may want a feminine escort to go dancing with, and in that case he may be referred to a household which boasts one, or several, dancing daughters. Usually, however, visiting servicemen do not ask the aid of the Hospitality Bureau till they have been in Wellington for a week or so. By this time they have done most of their sightseeing, and look forward to the quieter entertainment provided by home hospitality. In The Country Miss Withington is rather proud of a new service inaugurated by the Frieridship Group. As well as the list of town hostesses she is compiling a list of country hostesses who would be prepared to offer hospitality, and this means that men who have leave and would like to spend it in the country will be able to do so. "And this service will be particularly valuable for those boys who are convalescing after a period in military hospital," added Miss Withington, The Home Hospitality Bureau cannot speak of its "regular clients," for once servicemen have been introduced to their hosts they no longer need the services of the bureau. But as the satisfied customers are continually replaced by new arrivals the work of the bureau goes on. And, according to Miss Withington, there’s a great deal of satisfaction to be had from the contemplation of that tapidly-expanding filing cabinet.