Let Men be Men

I'm sitting in Reagan Airport in D.C., waiting to return home from a conference for work. At the end of the conference today, I hopped on the very crowded shuttle that would take me from the hotel to the airport. All of the seats were taken, and the last few people (including myself) were instructed to stand near the end of the shuttle.

I thought to myself – “Now, this would be an ideal opportunity for one of the men on this shuttle to be a gentleman and give up his seat to me. I wonder if that will happen.”

I made my way to the back, and as I was standing there waiting for the shuttle to take off, a man seated on the aisle seat next to where I was standing asked if I would prefer to sit. Yeah! I told him that if he was willing to give up his seat, I was willing to take it. (In all fairness to the few other men on board – I only saw about 2 other men on the shuttle, and they were already crammed in the window seats, so it would have been a bit impractical for them to offer their seat.)

This made me happy, to experience a man behaving like a gentleman and treating me like a lady, even though I was a perfect stranger. I makes me sad to think that some women would have declined this man’s offer of the seat. Why? Because they think women shouldn’t receive any kind of preferential treatment?

I firmly believe that God wired men and women differently – and one of these difference is that one of the key character qualities a man should display is the extent to which he looks out for, cares for, and protects the women in his life (most notably his wife and daughters, but also mother, sisters, and even strangers to some degree). Women, on the other hand, are wired to respond to this tendency to care and protect.

Ladies: Let men be men, and let them treat us like the ladies we are! Not in a demanding way, but in a way that encourages this in-born quality in a man.

And yes, this stranger-gentleman was good looking, and yes, I totally checked out the third finger on his left hand. Married. His wife is a lucky lady.