Chivalry is dead...or is it?

Lately I've been wondering when we stopped teaching our children common courtesy. It's not that often that you see people hold doors for each other or even say a simple hello when passing each other. What is it that causes this to happen. Has "stranger danger" completely ruined every little ounce of friendliness in us? Of course, you need to be cautious, but is it going to hurt to hold the door for someone when going into the store, or saying hello to a person as we pass them on the jogging path at the park? I remember a few months ago I was going into a store. I had my 3 older kids with me and was extremely pregnant with #4. Not only did the guy (dare I say, punk) walking into the store before me NOT open the door for us, not even hold it a little open behind him on his way in, it practically hit me in the face....well, belly, considering that stuck out much further than my face at the time. I was thinking to myself, if a man can't so much as hold the door open for a gigantically pregnant woman and her 3 kids, what hope is there left for this generation, not to mention my kids' generation?! I don't expect a red carpet laid out before me, and I'm a very independent, strong woman, but once in a while, it would be nice to be treated with just a tiny bit of courtesy and respect!

The other day my husband and I took a trip to the mountains. Before we went we stopped at the gas station to spend a small fortune on gas. I went in to pay for the gas and get some drinks for us to have in the car. As I approached the door to the gas station I saw a fairly grungy looking, 30ish, construction worker type guy walking towards the door from the other direction. Of course I expected nothing less than a door hitting me in the face...yes, the face this time since the belly is gone (o: Boy was I surprised! Did he hold the door open behind him so I could grab it...no! He actually opened the door for me, nodded at me as I walked in and...wait for it, the icing on the cake... When I said thank you, he said "yes ma'm" Yep, he sure did! Now one side of me thought, no way am I old enough to be called ma'm, but of course the other side of me was completely floored! That was the beginning of a very uplifting day for me. From there we headed up to the mountains and had a wonderful day. The fall colors were amazing, the weather was perfect, the kids behaved, we saw a bunch of elk, came back down and took the kids out for ice cream before heading home for dinner. Yeah, you heard right, we had ice cream before dinner. That's how you end a perfect day!

Here's a bit of scenery for you to enjoy from our day!