A Sermon to the Traveler

From The Tacoma Times, December 2, 1912. By Berton Braley.
 

 Don’t be a clam when you travel,
 Don’t sit like a mute in your seat;
     There’s a lot you can learn
     If you’ll pleasantly turn
 And talk to the folks you will meet;
 There’s a heap of good tales will unravel
 If you’ll merely be cordial and kind,
     For a wise man can gain
     From his talks on the train
 A whole bunch of food for his mind.
 
 Some people could travel forever
 And never be wiser at all
     Though they covered the map
     While the sociable chap
 Will gain by a journey that’s small.
 It’s well to make every endeavor
 To let down the conventional bars,
     For you’ll benefit, if
     You don’t act like a stiff
 With the folks that you meet on the cars.