Adorable Honesty : Personal History

Some lessons were impressed on me by reverse example. When I was young, I perceived grown-ups behaving quite oddly at times. I remember being shocked or dismayed by things I observed and making silent vows not to behave as they did when I grew up. For instance, my mother, when confronted with a line waiting at the movies, would go up to the box oflice and say, “I am Mrs.  Eugene Meyer of The Washington Post,” and demand to be taken in and seated. At that time, she did indeed get in. l cringed with embarrassment and hoped the ground would swallow me up. It had such a lasting effect on me that I have never been able to deal with headwaiters in restaurants who put you “in Siberia” rather than the better part of the restaurant. I just go meekly to Siberia.