I was out the other day people watching and I noticed a disturbing fact. Among young adults chivalry is dead. I watched as young couples pulled up and one by one the guys got either in or out of their cars and walked away leaving their female partners to fend for themselves. These young men did not open car doors or hold open entrance doors for these young women and it was even sadder that the women were seemingly unfazed by it. In some instances the women jumped out of the car and held the entrance door open for the man. I even saw some women driving and the man sat there on his phone. Another sad fact is that not all of these were millennials; some of them were older couples as well.
What happened to the days when men drove and the women sat on the passenger side looking demure? Long gone are the days when a man would jump out of the car and race over to open the passenger door for a woman. Where are the days when a man would walk you to the door with his hand at the small of your back and hold the door open for you or hold your elbow when you walked up or down stairs?
I always told my daughter to make sure that her boyfriends and now her husband treat you like a lady at all times. You sometimes have to teach a man how to treat you. You have to let him know what you expect and what is acceptable and what is not acceptable behavior. There were times that even with my own husband I had to let him know how expected to be treated. If he went to get into the car without opening m door I would simply stand there and look dumb until he got the hint and came and opened my door. When we were entering buildings and he would walk in front of me I would stand in front of the door with my arms folded until he opened the door for me. He finally got the point and started to treat me like the lady that I am.
Moms if you are raising a son teach him the way to treat a lady. Teach him to open doors, pull out chairs and walk on the outside closest to the street. If you are not accustomed to this behavior yourself look to someone to show you that you should be treated this way too. Moms raising daughters teach them that they are worthy of the red glove treatment and have them demand to be treated with common courtesy and respect.
Not all men have forgotten how to be chivalrous but most have. Ladies take a stand today and let’s bring back a standard that should be a normal way of life.
