Chivalry Isn't Dead

Golda is doing a unit on Medieval times in school. Yesterday she asked me what chivalry is. Tonight at Golda's orchestra concert, I experienced chivalry firsthand. All the sixth graders in the area got together for this concert, so there were 300 kids playing and hundreds more watching in a crowded gym. The way the day played out, I ended up there with 5 little kids who had just downed slushies. Cool! I found an empty spot to stand by the wall and planted all the kids on the floor at my feet. No sooner had I staked out my wall space than an elderly man slowly got up from his chair and pushed it over to me. I didn't want to argue and I sure didn't want to stand, so I accepted. He leaned over with a smile and said, "Hey, I'm not the one carrying the baby!" I was so grateful. The man who gave me his chair, easily in his '80's, stood the whole time, even though it was hot and stuffy, and even though there were plenty of young people sitting in chairs all around, oblivious to the kind old gentleman whose knees were buckling in the heat. I wondered why none of them offered him their seat like he had offered his. It bothered me that teenagers felt entitled to sit while a less spry man stood.

I think it's because there are societal rules that earlier generations learned that kids don't learn anymore. Older people are always entitled to chairs and the right of way and the respect of people younger that they are. Have we forgotten that? I heard the phrase "Respect your elders" many times as a kid, usually when my dad wanted me to speak up to an adult or to obey a teacher or a grandparent. I say it to my kids, but I worry that they won't see the importance of respecting their elders when there is no value placed on it in society. Any man who sacrifices in order to defer to a pregnant woman deserves the respect of everyone around him. In some cultures, his age alone would earn him the respect he deserves. That's how it should be. When I tried to thank him at the end of the concert, he humbly put a finger to his lips. I'll have to tell Golda that I saw chivalry in action from a true knight. We can learn a lot from those who have logged more years on the planet. We have to remember that it's not the other way around.