The "Last Gentleman in the World"

Sorry for my recent absence. Life gets busy, work requires travel, and I don't have the time I usually do to think and post, but with travel comes new experiences and new stories.

So I was on a bus the other day taking me from the airport to the car rental building. It was a cold day and people were cramming into the bus, taking whatever standing room there was left to get where they were going and get out of the cold.

There was an older Gentleman sitting near where I was standing and a number of other people, mostly woman, holding the hand rails and waiting for the bus to depart.

The thought occurred to me that none of the men had offered to stand and let any of the women sit down, and there were a number of older women on the bus who looked as if they could have used a seat rather than having to support themselves with a handrail on a moving vehicle.

Just then the old man stood up and offered another older woman his seat. She graciously accepted. Another woman who was standing beside her remarked to the man that he must be the "last Gentleman in the World."

Why is this so rare? Was it the woman's liberation movement? Are men no longer taught to care about others? Is it a population thing? Are we becoming more and more numb to the number of unknown people who cross our paths daily?

Its the little things that make someone stand out and kindness should never go out of style.

-J. Eliot

traveler

It was like watching the Animal Channel...

I gave into the dark side.

I normally try to get out of the office for a quick, cheap, and relatively healthy lunch, but today I just didn't have the internal fortitude to eat my usual 6" turkey sub and diet coke. I found myself turning into the parking lot of a burger chain that I will not name, though you should know it from it's creepy plastic faced, crown wearing mascot.

I happened into the restaurant right at the peek of lunch. I noticed, as the line wound back to the ends of the short wooden barricades, that there was an overabundance of middle-aged males. A variety of men (scruffy blue-collar types, polo wearing desk-jockeys - all at least slightly overweight and homely) waited almost silently in line to order or pick up their food with the one exception of a 20-something brunette in jeans and a tank top.

She wasn't a particularly attractive girl but she was tall and the correct weight, and stood in stark contrast to the unattractive testosterone crowd. And testosterone is right.

As I waited, I noticed how one after the other almost every man in the room would take an extended glance up and down this poor lonely girl's body. At first it was just the graying, long-haired, mustache wearing trucker a few people ahead of her. And then it was the guy at the register who looked like Dwight from the Office. The wait was long enough that pretty much every guy in the room checked out this girl at least once.

She seemed oblivious though. Was she uncomfortable? Did she really not notice? Did these men seriously not realize that they were all doing the same thing? Why was she there alone in the first place?

I felt as if I had walked into the middle of a college Sociology experiment. And then, as I thought about it, it felt more like watching the Animal Channel and a special about what happens when you introduce a female chimp into an all male environment.

I seriously have to wonder if no other man there took an objective view of the situation and decided not to act like every other chimp in the room. It's as if they hadn't seen a semi-attractive woman in weeks.

It is our place as Gentlemen to treat a Lady with respect. Maybe I missed the boat, but what good did it do any of these guys to eye her like she was some sort of object? None took the chance to talk to her, they just gawked and formed rude and selfish mental images in their minds.

It's just a little reminder, but the next time you're out try to take notice of your natural reactions to the women around you. Do you look like one of these chimps? Do you just blend into the crowd of other stupid, desperate, lonely men who'd probably be better off walking on their knuckles, or do you stand up straight with dignity and treat women with respect - even when it comes to the unspoken ways in which we interact?

-J. Eliot

women are people too...

13 Rules for Gentlemen

13 Rules for Gentlemen:

1. Always hold a door open for a young girl or woman and wait for her to go through first.
2. Help ladies with removing or putting on a sweater or coat.
3. Always seat ladies at the table first, then take your seat.
4. Rise from your seat when a woman enters the room and see that she has a comfortable place to sit.
5. The gentleman always walks on the curbside with a lady.
6. Always carry packages for a lady if you are walking together.
7. If a lady drops something, always stop and help her pick it up.
8. Do not embarass a lady by teasing her in public.
9. Use self-control with your speech.
10. Flee situations that might lead to stumbling into sin.
11. Do not make rude noises or laugh at others who behave inappropriately in public.
12. Remove your hat when you go indoors.
13. God's desire is that you grow into a godly young man. Meditate upon His Word!

I found this online at a homeschooling/pre-schooling website of all places. As good a place as any to start our discussion.