"Speaking of operations--" / by Irvin S. Cobb ... illustrations by Tony Sarg.
- Irvin S. Cobb
- Date:
- [1915], ©1915
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: "Speaking of operations--" / by Irvin S. Cobb ... illustrations by Tony Sarg. Source: Wellcome Collection.
20/78 page 14
![and oatmeal rarely lacks a warm defender. But after all, when all is said and done, the king of all topics is operations. Sooner or later, wherever two or more are gath¬ ered together it is reasonably certain that somebody will bring up an operation. Until I passed through the experience of being operated on myself, I never really realized what a precious conversational boon the subject is, and how great a part it plays in our intercourse with our fellow beings on this planet. To the teller it is enormously interesting, for he is not only the hero of the tale but the rest of the cast and the stage setting as well—the whole show, as they say; and if the listener has had a similar experience—and who is there among us in these days that has not taken a nap ’neath the shade of the old ether cone?—it acquires a doubled value. “Speaking Of operations -” you say, just like that, even though nobody present has spoken of them; and then you are off, with your new acquaintance sitting on the edge of his chair, or hers as the case may be and so frequently is, with hands clutched [14]](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29817675_0020.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
