Chivalry Is Not Dead: But It Is Up To Women to Keep It Going

This isn't a blog about "me," although I hope my voice, or my views, do show my own individual perspectives. This means that I rarely post photos of myself, although I do write from time to time about the places I've been to, any my experiences in these places. I also regulary post photographs I took of various locations around Toronto, and some outside of Canada.

I did this photoshopped construction of myself while I was in the downtown area of Toronto a couple of days ago.

I left Fran's diner after lunch, and tried to go on the sidewalk to get to the Eaton Centre. If I continued on the sidewalk, I would be blocked by the construction work going on. If I went on the street, I would have to deal with a constant, although slow-moving, traffic of cars.

While I was deliberating which way was better for me, one of the construction workers walked up to me and said: "Let me help you get through. Are you going to the mall?"

I was a little surprised, but genuinely thankful and relieved. "Yes, up to Eaton's," I said.

He stopped the cars, walked me across the street, and left me at a safe point.

"Thank you," is all I could say.

I think men are genuinely concerned when they see a woman in some kind of distress. But these days, the macho-looking, unattractively dressed, aggressive females don't solicit attention, let alone assistance, by the men around them.

I think it was my relatively well-put-together ensemble that partly got the attention of the construction worker:

- I have matching gloves and scarf
- My hat (a 1920s style cloche hat) and my boots match
- My boots have a slight heel (not those unwalkablestilts all the rage these days, or flats for the majority which lives off ugliness which hit the pavement with no shock absorption ), and have a slight sheen
- The tan winter jacket stands out against the blacks and grey all around
- The brown handbag contrasts with the tan of the jacket

I had taken the time to look feminine, which means that I wasn't going to:

a. Refuse any help, attributing such help to male chauvinism
b. Did need help, since my coat could get soiled by the gravel dust, and my shoes had a slight heel, and I was losing some balance on the pebbles of gravel
c. I did look concerned and unsure how to tackle this obstruction

The kind man quickly saw all this, and his instinct was to throw his jacket on the water puddle, so to speak.

Sir Walter Raleigh laying down his cloak before Queen Elizabeth I
Sir John Gilbert
oil on canvas
19 x 26½ in.

Christie's describes the artist of this painting as: "Circle of Sir John Gilbert" and other sourced cannot verify if it was Gilbert who painted it,

There is no date for the painting, but Gilbert lived between 1817-1897, so this is a nineteenth century work.