Joyful June: Chivalry isn't extinct, but it is endangered!

Welcome to Joyful June. This post has been on my mind since Monday, when I went to my knee doctor to get my stitches out.

Whenever I travel to my knee doctor, I always come across an adventure and a large number of guys who ask me "what happened to your knee? I can totally relate to the crutches. I'm sorry" And if we're near doors or anything, these guys are very kind and open the door for me.

On Monday as I entered the Doctors office I was met by two different kinds of men. Who saw me coming and quickly got inside the building and quickly went into the elevator. Now this elevator is glass so, they could still see me, and I could still see them. And they were pointing and LAUGHING and I heard one of them say something about me not getting on the elevator because i was slow.

Rude much? The worst part? These were not YOUNG men they were at least in their 30s or 40s! I was shocked at their behavior. But I went on, mom and I waited for the next elevator, signed in and went to my appointment, got my stitches out and I left in a much better mood. As we walked toward the elevator, about the same distance as I was coming up FOR the appointment... And this older man (possibly in his 50s) and his son (a little younger than me) HELD THE ELEVATOR open for me. When we got in the young man started talking to me about my knee, and we had a good short convo, then as we left, mom and I were deciding whether to stay in or brave the rain, the man and his son waited a moment then, once again, held the doors for us! Wished us a good journey and we did the same for them. Thanked them a bunch and went our separate ways! My heart was happy and full because it was then that I realized... Chivalry isn't completely dead... it's not extinct... but it IS endangered.

When I saw that that man had brought up his son to be a gentlemen I was so pleased and impressed...but still felt a sadness and shame for those other me, the ones that laughed! Did someone never teach them what it is to be a gentlemen? Did they ignore the lessons? What happened there?

Then it got me thinking... I'm a bit of a tom boy, as a last ditch effort to have me become a lady when I was in high school, my mom had me go to etiquette classes with a friend of mine. Well, I ignored some of those lessons, kept my tom boy ways... and recently (a few months ago), I dug through my memory and brought those lessons back to my attention, and finally, 10-12 years later I've learned them, because I WANTED to. If Chivalry is endangered so is the art of being a lady! We should fight for BOTH to stay alive in our young people, my generation included or we'll have men and women with an unkindness that is not fitting of gentlemen or ladies. If we don't work NOW to change this... by the time this generation of teens are our 30-40 year olds Chivalry WILL BE extinct and that world would be a VERY SCARY world!

The Joyful part of this post is: Chivalry ISNT dead and there IS still hope! Train the little boys to open the doors for girls, to pull out their chairs to never laugh at a woman in pain. Teach them to share a smile, and even conversation with a young woman, to brighten her day. Teach them manners. Teach young ladies the proper line between being a tom boy and being a lady! It's okay to be into sports, enjoy things that guys enjoy, but don't have tooting and burping contests with the boys!

My personal joyful part of this post is my thankfulness for that man and his son! For their kindness to my mother and I! There is joy in even the smallest moments and it warms my heart to know that there are some kind men still around! It's a blessing! :)