chivalry is, in fact, still alive.....

I've lived in the South all my life. There are certain things you're brought up to do as a Southern male. One is that you open doors for ladies. It never ceases to amaze me how surprised some women are when I open a door and allow them to go though first. And I see this happen all the time to other guys.

Wednesday after lunch at Provence (sort of a snooty/yuppie kind of place to eat in the same building as the downtown library; I go there because it's convenient, and the sandwiches are very good; plus, I saw on the show "$40 a day" that Rachel Ray ate there, and I'm hoping to run into her there one day) I came out of the library and paused to hold the door open for a lady going into the library. You would have thought I'd just handed her a hundred dollar bill. She had this overjoyed look on her face that just blew me away. And for those of you who know me, it's not because I'm often mistaken for George Clooney; Curious George, maybe, because we're about the same height and we have about the same amount of neck hair, but never George Clooney.

I remember being in Madison, Wisconsin for a seminar several years ago. I parked my rental car and headed towards the hotel lobby after a day of meetings. The hotel clerk, probably in her early 40's, was also coming in from the parking lot and I opened the door for her. She said, "Well, how nice! Thank you so much!" with an unmistakable nasally tone that only midwestern ladies can emit. I said "You're welcome." She said, "OK, I didn't think you were from around here when you opened the door for me. Now after I've heard you talk, I can definitely tell you're from the South." I told her that I was from Tennessee, and she went on to tell me about once living in Alabama for a year and how she missed the manners displayed by Southerners.

Am I implying that if you're not a Southern guy you're not polite and well-mannered? Absolutely not. It's just that it seems to come naturally for us. Now, on the other hand, just ask the bride how non-gallant I can be when she asks me to hold her purse.....