The League of Ordinary Gentlemen

Last night, I went to the Utah Jazz/Houston Rockets game at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City. It was just my second time going to a Jazz game this season, and I enjoyed the opportunity. The game was very exciting. We had a lot to cheer about, as the home team pulled off a 13-point victory.

As much as I enjoy Jazz games, however, that's not what this post is about.

As I waited in my seat for the game to start, I couldn't help but notice a strange phenomenon. I saw a man and what was apparently his date/girlfriend/wife walking up and over to their seats. What was weird about it was that the man was not only walking in front of the woman; he was, in fact, several strides ahead of her. They were together, and yet they weren't together - if that makes sense. From what I could see, she may as well have been a dog following him around, as far as he was concerned.

It struck me as odd when I saw it. But then I noticed the same thing happen again with a different couple. Why don't these guys have enough courtesty to walk next to their dates/wives? I wondered. I also thought, What kind of girl wants to follow around a guy who acts like that?

I couldn't help but think of the line uttered by Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: "Who's more foolish - the fool, or the fool who follows him?"

Whatever the answer to that question may be, I was rather embarrassed for my gender, collectively speaking. I may be misinterpreting what I saw, but it just didn't seem like a very gentlemanly thing of these guys to do.

Growing up, I was taught that it was good manners to say things like "please" and "thank you," to open doors for my dates, to take their hands if they ever needed help getting up - those kinds of things. Chivalry is an attitude that seems to be lost on a lot of people today. It's also something called common courtesy.

Is chivalry dead? No. But it appears to be in intensive care.

Then again, maybe it's just Jazz fans.