would be truly beneficial. So, at noon you go. There never was a game of
billiards that would end precisely at the moment you should leave for
duty. There never were two employes who played billiards who did not
cheat their employers out of considerable time. There never was an
employer who would not resent this injustice. The comrade who does not
play billiards will, sooner or later, get an absolute advantage over
you. You will come in, complaining of your luck only to find that your
slow-going comrade has "got something" which you have missed. Employers
do not want head-clerks or partners who hang around billiard saloons or
livery stables. "He who comes from the kitchen smells of its smoke."
What can you get at a billiard saloon? You can get the good opinion of
some person who is never civil to anybody. His incivility has a charm
for your young mind. You naturally imitate him.