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.After a meal ortwo people always speak to those sitting next to them.None but therudest snobs would sit through meal after meal without everaddressing a word to their table companions.Well-bred people arealways courteous, but that does not mean that they establishfriendships with any strangers who happen to be placed next to them.24In crossing the Pacific, people are more generally friendly becausethe voyage is so much longer, and on the other long voyages, such asthose to India and South Africa, the entire ship s company becomealmost as intimate as in the old clipper days.25THE TACTICS OF THE CLIMBERThere are certain constant travelers who, it is said, count on aEuropean voyage to increase their social acquaintance by just somuch each trip! Richan Vulgar, for instance, has his same especialtable every time he crosses, which is four times a year! Walkingthrough a steamer train he sees a celebrity, a brilliant, let us say,but unworldly man.Vulgar annexes him by saying, casually, Haveyou a seat at table? Better sit with me, I always have the table by thedoor; it is easy to get in and out. The celebrity accepts, since there isno evidence that he is to be featured, and the chances are that heremains unconscious to the end of time that he served as a decoy.Boarding the steamer, Vulgar sees the Lovejoys, and pounces: Youmust sit at my table! Celebrity and I are crossing together he is themost delightful man! I want you to sit next to him. They thinkCelebrity sounds very interesting; so, not having engaged a table forGet any book for free on: www.Abika.comETIQUETTE IN SOCIETY, IN BUSINESS, IN POLITICS AND AT HOME459Celebrity sounds very interesting; so, not having engaged a table forthemselves, they say they will be delighted.On the deck, theSmartleys appear and ask the Lovejoys to sit with them.Vulgar, whois standing by (he is always standing by) breaks in even without anintroduction and says: Mr.and Mrs.Lovejoy and Celebrity aresitting at my table, won t you sit with me also? If the Smartlysprotest they have a table, he is generally insistent and momentarilyoverpowering enough to make them join forces with him.As theSmartlys particularly want to sit next to the Lovejoys and also like theidea of meeting Celebrity, it ends in Vulgar s table being a collectionof fashionables whom he could not possibly have gotten togetherwithout just such a maneuver.26The question of what he gets out of it is puzzling since with eachhour the really well-bred people dislike him more and more intensely,and at the end of a day or so, his table s company are all eating ondeck to avoid him.Perhaps there is some recompense that does notappear on the surface, but to the casual observer the satisfaction oftelling others that the Smartlys, Lovejoys and Wellborns sat at histable would scarcely seem worth the effort.27THOSE ACQUISITIVE OF ACQUAINTANCEThere is another type of steamer passenger and hotel guest who may,or may not, be a climber.This one searches out potentialacquaintances on the passenger list and hotel register with the avidityof a bird searching for worms.You have scarcely found your ownstateroom and had your deck chair placed, when one of them swoopsupon you: I don t know whether you remember me? I met you innineteen two, at Countess della Robbia s in Florence. Your memorybeing wofully incomplete, there is nothing for you to say except, How do you do! If a few minutes of conversation, which should besufficient, proves her to be a lady, you talk to her now and againthroughout the voyage, and may end by liking her very much.If,however, her speech breaks into expressions which prove her not alady, you become engrossed in your book or conversation withanother when she approaches
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