Ladies v. Women

The impetus: I was sitting outside Offenhauer when I saw a guy and gal walking toward the entrance. The guy was holding an umbrella and had his arm wrapped around the gal's waist to hold her close as he shielded her from the rain. What did this gal do? She elbowed him. She elbowed him multiple times, shoving him away as he tried valiantly to protect her from the water falling from the sky.

When our generation says things such as "Chivalry is dead," what do they expect? Come on, now. Of course chivalry is dead. We killed it. We took an ax to its head, we split it open, and then we lit it on fire.

If a nice young man is trying to protect your hair and makeup from the rain, don't elbow him. This is common sense.

I was going to entitle this blog entry, "Ladies." As in, "Ladies, we need to chat." But then, I started thinking about that term. It's too kind. You aren't "Ladies." If you were, you wouldn't be elbowing the kinds of guys who hold umbrellas for you.

Later this same day, I was walking across campus and saw a woman and a man, probably the ages of our parents, walking. She was talking on her cell phone; he was walking next to her, holding an umbrella to shield her from the rain. Did she elbow him? No. Again, did she elbow him? No.

Hell no.

It doesn't fucking make sense to elbow someone who is in the process of doing something nice for you.

When a professor gives you an "A" on a paper, do you give him a hearty, "Fuck you!" in return? I don't think so.

If you want to be called a "lady," then act like one.

Incidentally, I have a funny story to tell about that term. I was camping in San Diego with my family. My stepmother was scolding me for smoking a cigarette, saying it wasn't "ladylike," only to beckon me to her side moments later. "I can't get this tent stake in the ground." She handed me the mallet and had no qualms with my beating a metal stake into the hard earth. Apparently that was "ladylike" enough for her.

My point? Be nice to boys. We don't want to give them reason to be assholes.







[Short enough, FBM?]