I beg to disagree with the writer who calls the death of chivalry the clarion call announcing the death of society. If society is dying a terminal death it is not due to a lack of civility and chivalry. It is because a small, but loud and obnoxious crowd is saying things that are not true and are doing so in a rude manner that would be called by better folk lying if they were less polite.
Yes, I speak of my family which is polite and whose daily actions are based on the code of chivalry and I also speak of the actions of a wide swath of people that I see in my travels. The lady who is struggling who welcomes the help of a stranger. The Muslim who helped others in the wake of 9/11 and received in return support because they deserved it. The person who risked their life to save another from a burning car. The young man who kept the smile on his face as a woman strolled through an opened door without so much as a smile let alone a thank you. The woman who kept her tongue as a political elite questioned her femininity because she dared to disagree.
There has always been and always will be those that deny the society who has given them much and has allowed them to become who they are, but, in the end, the arbiters of bad manners, bad taste and bad society will not win. They may not know this because society is too polite to point out just how tragically wrong they are, but to them the game is never really over. If it were what would they have to do with their lives?
Yes, I speak of my family which is polite and whose daily actions are based on the code of chivalry and I also speak of the actions of a wide swath of people that I see in my travels. The lady who is struggling who welcomes the help of a stranger. The Muslim who helped others in the wake of 9/11 and received in return support because they deserved it. The person who risked their life to save another from a burning car. The young man who kept the smile on his face as a woman strolled through an opened door without so much as a smile let alone a thank you. The woman who kept her tongue as a political elite questioned her femininity because she dared to disagree.
There has always been and always will be those that deny the society who has given them much and has allowed them to become who they are, but, in the end, the arbiters of bad manners, bad taste and bad society will not win. They may not know this because society is too polite to point out just how tragically wrong they are, but to them the game is never really over. If it were what would they have to do with their lives?
