Old School

I had an encounter this morning that reminded me of the good old days a bit. I went into the convenience store this afternoon and I was greeted with a warm hello by an older man. We were both at the drink machine and he asked me if I was thirsty. I said yes and he said well there it is, pretty much anything you could want and then chuckled. Then when he saw me writing a check, he said aw honey, if you gotta write a check for that, I'll pay for it and I said thanks but no thanks I was buying gas too-I had accidentally chosen a pre-pay pump.(I hate when I do that-I thought there was only one.) He then proceeded to chat with the man working and I could tell they were buddies. They were discussing a problem customer that had been in and they almost called him a name, but then they remembered me and substituted a family friendly label for the problem guy instead. The whole store visit was maybe five minutes at the most, but it created a longing in me that has lasted all day.

I am not too young to remember when men were nice to women just because they were female and that is how "real" men, gentlemen behaved. They didn't cuss in the presence of a lady or leer at them. Doors were opened, niceties exchanged. It was nice. I grew up in a small town full of gentlemen who treated me like that from the time I was old enough to walk and it is still that way there today. What happened to men? Women, that's what. We decided we could open our own door. We decided you don't get to treat me well unless I give you permission. We caused a whole culture shift. Then, we didn't like it much. Men weren't paying enough attention to us. Then we decided to fix that. After all, what man could possibly ignore you if you have boob and butt cleavage. So now we get all kinds of attention, mostly the leering type. I can't blame the men really, I do believe God created men to notice women. Women are the ones who have chosen to "cash in" on that, in a manner of speaking. It is all really rather sad.

Today, however, I felt transported in time to another era. One where I was noticed and doted on just because I was female-not because I was a hottie. I was treated like a lady. I really am hoping that will come back in style soon-both being a "lady" and also being treated like one. Is it to early to ask Santa to bring me that for Christmas?