Who Says Chivalry Is Dead?

This morning, on the way to class, I was dead tired. Like, a-la Night of the Living Dead kind of tired. I've gone most of this week with minimal sleep, and it started really taking its toll. I'm normally pretty tired without caffeine, but today it seemed like nothing would wake me up. Until I got out of the car. One zap of that cold, snowy wind and I was awake. That, and a slip in the slush that landed me on my butt. I had just enough time to register the uncomfortable sensation of my jeans getting colder by the second, when I felt a hand grab my arm and lift me back to my feet. I looked up and saw this very tall, rather large man looking at me with concern.

"Are you all right?" He asked, picking up my purse and handing it back to me.

When I assured him that I was fine, he held the door for me as I went into Wawa. I was slightly shaken up. I'm a clumsy person normally, but add slush and ice, and I'm hopeless. Last semester, during a torrential rain storm, I fell down a flight of stairs in the CIM building with my back hitting each step. For a couple seconds, I couldn't feel or move at all, and ever since then, I've had a fear of falling.

But anyway, to top it all off, he saw me in line to pay, and waited around so he could get the door for me again on my way out. Now, if that isn't the nicest thing a stranger has done for me, I don't know what is.

I've never been able to understand those women who complain when a man holds the door for them, or pulls a chair out for them. I mean, doesn't that just make it more convenient for us? Not every man means it as a slight against us. Some just genuinely want to help. And yet, I listen to my friends who can't believe that a man had the nerve to let them go first into Wawa. Really?


If we keep this up, won't we end up deterring all men from wanting to go out of their way for us? Or am I just being gloom-and-doom over here? Maybe. Doesn't mean I'm wrong, though. ;)

Either way, it was a very kind thing for him to do for me. To go out of his way and stand in the cold and wind to help a sleep-deprived college student? That's a kindness of spirit that you don't see all that often anymore.

Anyway, I'm off to catch up on some of that sleep. Good night, and talk to you soon. :)

It Didn't Take Long

I am incredibly irritated right now. I just got back from bowling with my sister's friends, and we actually had a great time. However, I just don't understand how some people can be so incredibly inconsiderate.

I am not referring to my sister's friends, just to get that out there. I am actually referring to a family at the alley where we bowled. I was standing in line to get my shoes (slightly to the side so I could get a better look at the arcade behind the station) when a large family pushed past me and planted themselves in line in front of me. I thought that maybe they didn't realize that I was in line, so, in my politest manner, I asked them if they knew that the line was behind me, to which the mother replied, "Well, you can wait now." And promptly turned her back and ignored me.

Once at the counter, she made a scene when her coupon wasn't going to count for all 5 of the games the family played. She refused to listen when the poor girl said that it counted on a maximum of three games. I had to bite my tongue the entire time to keep from saying something equally rude myself. I worked in retail over the summer, and had dealt with my fair share of rudeness, so I was very much on the side of the employee. Finally, the manager sorted the entire situation out, and I got my shoes. The poor girl looked so frazzled from her previous customer that she gave me the wrong size shoes. I don't know if people like that woman realize their affect on others. And why on God's green earth would someone be so downright cruel to someone who is doing them a service by taking care of them? My personal philosophy is that everyone should work in retail for minimum of one season. They will never be cruel or nasty to them again.

However, I am happy to report sightings of some humanity as well. I went to a coffee shop not too long ago to hang out with some friends. When my sister and I got there, we were the only people in the entire shop. It was kind of neat. We sat down to wait, and the manager began talking to us a bit. Just casual conversation, but it passed the time until my friends arrived. Later, when I went to go buy my drink, he gave me a 10% discount.

"What for?" I asked, very surprised.

"Oh, just because you were talking earlier and didn't get weirded out by me talking to you."

And a little bit later, he brought tortilla chips, salsa and sour cream for the entire table for free. And, he also offered us the remaining muffins from the day. "They may not be very fresh, but you can have them if you want." That's the kind of thing that can just turn a day around for me. I will certainly continue visiting this shop in the future.

So, I guess it didn't take too long to find some instances of the extremes in our behaviors. Until next time. :)

Prologue

As I sit here, hesitantly typing a few words here and there, I'm getting progressively more anxious. It's rather surprising. I expected to be able to throw up long, intelligent posts with minimal effort. I've been posting online for many years, and it's as second-nature as talking. I didn't realize this whole "blogging" idea would be so intimidating. But, as the saying goes, "the journey of a thousand steps begins with the first step." So, this is my first step.

Have any of you had one of those days? One of those days when everything just seems to go wrong? By the time you get on the road to go home, you're so frustrated that you just feel like screaming? Maybe this only happens to me, but I find that after a particularly rough day, it seems like the entire world is out to get you. You get stuck behind the one driver on the road who will drive 15 mph below the speed limit, which is already an agonizing 35 mph. The route home has a five car pileup that lengthens your commute by an hour. And when you finally get to the supermarket, they're completely out of milk and eggs. Yeah, I mean one of those days.

And has it ever happened that, when your irritation is bubbling just beneath the surface, a random stranger goes out of their way to do something nice for you? Maybe they let you ahead of them in the already crowded checkout line. Maybe they give you an extra coupon they're not using. Just a little gesture that shows you that there are people in the world who are caring enough... to care.

Of course, there's the other extreme. The people who seem to live for nothing but to get ahead, and they don't care how many people they tramProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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e on in their climb to the top.

Maybe you run into one of them in the supermarket, where they jam their cart into yours to cut ahead into the checkout line. Unfortunately, life is not one big happy fairytale, where everyone lives in the Valley of Contentment in the Land of Kindness. Sometimes, people are really kind. And sometimes, they're jerks.

This blog will be serving as my place to offer encouraging examples of the humanity of the populace, as well as the inconsideration of those jerks out there, hopefully spun in a humorous manner.

So, I invite you along with me as I chronicle the ups and downs of the people in the world. It might be a fun ride! :-)