The Art of Chivalry

Okay, so I pretty much observe everything around me. I tend to watch the behavior and mannerisms of people quite a bit. A person's body language says more than words will ever say. One particular action that isn't really seen much anymore is chivalry. Granted, I'm sure there are women out there who would rather be independent and not have a guy open a door for them and that's cool. I also think women tend to be suspicious of this behavior because they may view it as a veiled way to get into their pants. And this would also be true in most cases. What I find interesting is that some women are surprised by an act of chivalry that they don't know what to do. As happened to me recently.

Yesterday at work I went on my break to a small room with only one chair. A room I jokingly call the "outcast's corner". I walk into the room and one of the girls I work with is sitting in the chair. We banter about nothing for a minute and she mentions how her feet are killing her. I say I know how you feel, my back is killing me. I work a job where I do a lot of heavy lifting for extended periods of time. So she then apologizes and gets out of the chair and says I can sit down. I tell her it's alright, you don't have to let me sit in the chair. She insists. I then tell her, "you just mentioned that your feet are killing you and you've also been sick recently so please sit in the chair, I'm fine where I"m at." She sits back down and then we have a conversation about chivalry. I said to her that I will defy anyone who says that chivalry is dead. I then mention how I held the door open for another girl at work and she just sort of stared at me in disbelief and it wasn't until I gestured with my hand for her to walk through that it hit her that I was holding the door open for her. I find it to be quite sad that chivalry is rarely seen anymore that a girl would stare at me in disbelief as though she wasn't sure what to do.

I am person who feels that chivalry is a very simple courtesy to be extended and it's quite disturbing that it has fallen so far out of practice that some women can't even recognize it anymore. No wonder they seem to view men as insensitive, self-absorbed jerks.  But this just my opinion.