“I will do it,” she said.
“Now I am sure you will succeed,” I replied.
On the following Tuesday she came into my office with her face wreathed in smiles and, after greeting me, said, “Oh doctor, it is so wonderful. I hardly know how it was done, but it seemed as though every one in the world wanted to pay me money since I was here the other day, and I have collected enough money not only to pay my rent this month but was able to take my ring out of pawn to-day.”
THE WORLD’S INJUSTICE
She was of medium height and so thin she could scarcely make a respectable shadow. Her well worn but not shabby dress, and her flimsy jacket told a story of lack in environment which her peaked, bloodless face and emaciated body showed in the latter.
She had been a room clerk in one of New York City’s big skyscraper hotels. Worked twelve hours, then had six hours off; worked six hours and then had twelve hours off. This was her ceaseless grind of work day after day and night after night, with never a Sunday nor holiday off.
In the course of her work she was brought into contact with both guests of the hotel and the hotel employees. She was the meeting point, as it were, for the complaints, irritations and annoyances of the former and the excuses and counter-charges of the latter. Her position was not a sinecure by any means as you may well imagine.
She never had been very strong and after playing the “buffer” between guests and employees for a couple of years, her nervous system was so worn out that she decided to quit her position and obtain something not so hard or trying on her.
She succeeded in securing a position as demonstrator in a department store for some new invention where she worked only half of each day and received six dollars a week for her services.
She found that department store customers were not made of any different material than were hotel guests and the constant irritations which came up in her dealings with the public continued to wear on her over-wrought nervous system to such an extent that night after night she would go to her room without any dinner, throw herself on her couch without removing any of her clothing, not even her hat, and lie there all night long, too exhausted to undress and go to bed.