Chivalry isn’t dead
You’ve seen those social media postings of photos captioned with cute sayings like “Is it Friday yet?”
Or you might be old enough to remember those little posters that adorned many a young girl’s bedroom wall (or possibly your office cubicle) with a kitten hanging by her paws beneath the phrase, “Hang in there!”
In high school, I had one particularly clever and cynical mini poster in my locker that read, “Chivalry isn’t dead … it’s just in a coma.” I still laugh when I think about it.
I am happy to report to you that though my poster was funny, that saying may, in fact, be false.
Chivalry is indeed alive and well in certain spots, and I have firsthand knowledge of this fact.
I went away for a weekend with friends recently, and we decided to get dressed up for the evening.
I’ve always been blessed with common sense, and although I manage to look somewhat pulled together most of the time, I am not by any means what they call a fashionista.
In other words, I always laugh at silly girls decked out in their mini dresses, high heels and no coat when it’s freezing outside. I’m always the sensible, warm girl wearing a jacket.
On this occasion, however, it wasn’t terribly cold and I opted to ditch the jacket since we would be pretending we weren’t old and hitting some clubs where everyone was a good 20 years younger than us.
I figured the body heat from the packed crowds would be enough to keep us warm (or give some of us hot flashes).
We had made some new friends over the weekend, and one of them (a handsome fellow) was joining us for the evening.
When we popped out of one hot spot to head down the street to the next, it was windy, chilly and drizzling rain. I felt cold.
That’s when it happened: an unbelievably sweet demonstration of chivalry that melted my chilly heart.
With absolutely no prompting and no asking, the aforementioned handsome fellow took off his jacket and put it around my shoulders. I was speechless! I’ve never had a guy do anything so sweet.
He got extra bonus points for that move. Perhaps it was because he was a product of one of our nation’s fine military academies and an officer in the service, or maybe it was just because his parents raised him well.
Maybe both.
All I know is that chivalry is not dead and definitely not in a coma when this guy is around.
It was a touching, thoughtful gesture, and I thanked him profusely.
So guys, listen up: You don’t have to spend a lot of money to win a girl’s heart. Just drape your jacket over her shoulders if she’s cold.
It will speak volumes, and you’ll impress the girl without ever having to worry about saying the right thing.
Kristin Emery can be reached at kristinemery1@yahoo.com.