by Elsie Lincoln Benedict
Available in 98 free installments
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¶ The stolid, indifferent or cold are people the Thoracic comes very near disliking. Their evident self-complacency and immobility are things he does not understand at all and with which he has little patience.
Such people seem to him to be cold, unfeeling, almost dead. So he steers clear of them. It was surely a Thoracic who first called these people "sticks." But the reason for their acting like sticks will be apparent in another chapter.
¶ Whereas the Alimentive avoids people he does not care for, the Thoracic is inclined to betray his aversions. He occasionally delights to put people he dislikes at a disadvantage by his wit or satire. The stony individual who walks through life like an Ionian pillar is a complete mystery to the Thoracic; and the pillar returns the compliment. We do not like anything we do not understand and we seldom understand anything that differs decidedly from ourselves.
Thus we distrust and dislike foreigners, and to a greater or lesser extent other families, people from other sections of the country, etc. The Easterner and Westerner have a natural distrust of each other; and the Civil War is not the only reason for the incompatibility of Southerners and Northerners.
So it is with individuals. Those who differ too widely in type never understand each other. They have too little of the chief thing that builds friendships?emotions in common.
¶ If you have once been a real friend of a Thoracic and a quarrel comes between you, he may be ever so bitter and biting in the moment of his anger but in most cases he will forgive you eventually.
¶ It is not as easy for other types to forgive; they often refrain from attempting a reconciliation. But the Thoracic's forgiveness is not only spontaneous but genuine.
The Alimentive bears no grudges because it is too much trouble. The Thoracic finds it hard to maintain a grudge because he gets over it just as he gets over everything else. His anger oozes away or he wakes up some fine morning and finds, like the boy recovering from the chickenpox, that he "simply hasn't it any more."
¶ Acute diseases are the ones chiefly affecting this type. Everything in his organism tends to suddenness and not to sameness.
Just as he is inclined to get into and out of psychological experiences quickly, so he is inclined to sudden illnesses and to sudden recuperations. A Thoracic seldom has any kind of chronic ailment. If he acquires a superabundance of avoirdupois he is in danger of apoplexy. The combination of extreme Thoracic and extreme Alimentive tendencies is the cause of this disease.
¶ Variety and novelty in food are much enjoyed by this type. The Alimentive likes lots of rich food but he is not so desirous of varieties or freak dishes. But the Thoracic specializes in them.
You can not mention any kind of strange new dish whose investigation won't appeal to some one in the crowd, and that person is always somewhat thoracic. It gives him another promise of "newness."
Foreign dishes of all kinds depend for their introduction into this country almost entirely upon these florid patrons. According to the statements of restauranteurs this type says, "I will try anything once." Many-course dinners, if the food is good, are especially popular with them.
¶ Out-of-the-ordinary surroundings in which to dine are always welcome to this type. The hangings, pictures, and furniture mean much to him. Most people like music at meals but to the Thoracic it is almost indispensable. He is so alive in every nerve, so keyed-up and has such intense capacity for enjoyment of many things simultaneously that he demands more than other types. An attentive waiter who ministers to every movement and anticipates every wish is also a favorite with the Thoracic when out for dinner.
¶ Colorful surroundings are more necessary to the Thoracic than to other types. The ever-changing fashions in house decorations are welcome innovations to him. He soon grows tired of a thing regardless of how much he liked it to begin with.
