As a
young man, I have to say that I personally find it difficult to be
the knight in shining armour for the very reasons she has explained.
There are many idiots like the guy in the truck and the guy at the
post office, of all sexes and races, who take advantage of people
and their kindness.
When I
pass one of them at an intersection, they will speed up to squeeze
through as well. They will almost mow me down in the process as I
try to cross the road. People in the Lower Mainland seem to have
forgotten about manners, and it is a sad thing.
I don't
know how many times I have tried to be a gentleman and allowed a
woman to go in front of me in a huge line-up. I have not even
received a "thank you." There have been times I have opened the door
to be told " I can open that for myself," by someone I don't even
know.
Just the
other day, I moved my cart aside in the grocery store just to get a
dirty look because I didn't do it sooner. I stand up for people on
the bus, but who stands up for me when I have a bunch of bags?
"no one. " I could go on here, but I won't.
This is
very disheartening. I don't want to shine my armour up for these
self-centred and rude individuals. It just leaves me angry and upset
after being blatantly disrespected for respecting them.
It is
just expected for us men to be gentlemen, to be these knights, but
what happened to the females who were wowed by this? Well, they seem
to all be in the same place that Gene Kelly and Mr. Manners are
now... dead.
We live
in a world where all races and sexes thrive for equality and we have
made some leaps and bounds in the last few years. However, people
are forgetting about a very important little, yet huge, thing that
Canadians have always been respected for 'manners. '
We need
to stop pointing fingers at races and sexes, see our similarities,
accept our differences, and acknowledge one another and our
individualities. That is what makes this country of ours so great,
or should I reiterate, made our country so great.
I could
be wrong, but until I see respect risen from the dead, my suit of
armour is going to continue collecting dust in a trunk in the shed.
J.
O'Neill,
Langley
