I was at the mall today with a friend, and my mom had an appointment, so my friend and I put Mariana and Septimus in strollers, and wandered around. We spent a long time in Chapters (the Canadian equivalent of Barnes&Noble) then sort of wandered around for a while. Once mum came back, we had to wait a few minutes for her to return some things in Old Navy. I was carrying some of the things we'd bought at the mall, my friend was pushing one stroller (dear thing) and my mom was pushing the other, so once it was time to leave, I rushed forward to open the doors for them. Now, there are two slightly different versions of what happened next.

Mine: Two extremely handsome young men ran forward when they saw my mom and my friend with the strollers, and opened the doors before I could get to them. I said thank you very politely and walked by.

Mum's: Two extremely handsome young men ran forward when they saw my lovely daughter, the smiles on their faces said it all, and opened the door for her, in an extremely heart-warming and gentlemanly manner.

Huh. Okay. I still hold to my story; I really do think that they were opening the door for my mom, because I was perfectly able to open the door myself and I'm sure they saw that, because (even though it sounds nice) who just goes and opens the doors for "lovely young ladies"? Not only that, but since I wasn't exactly at my best looking that day, I really don't think it had anything to do with me. Of course my mom and my friend
teased me mercilessly, especially when they saw I had started blushing.

All that aside, their courtesy really made me happy. I love when young men open doors for women. I mean, it's nice when older men do it, but since it's a huge surprise when younger men do it, it makes me happier. And these two were basically teenagers. It makes me feel like the human race hasn't completely become barbaric, at least not just yet.

I guess if they did open the doors for me, it had something to do with the way I was dressed. I overheard mummy on the phone with my friend's mother, and she was saying how when the young men looked at me (assuming they actually did look at me) they looked with genuine respect. My mother said she was sure that if I had been wearing mini-shorts or a low-cut top, their reaction would have been much more crass. I wasn't exactly dressed elegantly, but I wasn't showing off my whole body to the world either.

So the encounter, no matter what actually happened, has made me think. It's made me think just how precious gentlemen are. About just how important dressing modestly is. And about how extremely confident my mother is that her daughter has men trailing in her wake.

-Gwen