Text 17755, 95 rader
Skriven 2007-08-26 11:41:40 av Carl (4232.babylon5)
     Kommentar till en text av rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Ärende: Re: Newsgroup back!
===========================

"David Williams" <kosh137@comcast.net> wrote in message 
news:ALKdnVs7zYJhAUzbnZ2dnUVZ_rignZ2d@comcast.com...
>
>>>> I've mentioned before that I've had women scream a tirade at me because
>>>> I opened the door for them because I was demeaning them.
>
>
> Got lost in this ridiculous thread, so I'm not sure who posted the above. 
> (Which is why I snipped the posting lines.)
>
> But, a question for whomever it was:
> Where do you live?
> I mean, do women where you live really actually "scream" at you for a 
> simple gesture of kindness and courtesy?  Do they really launch into 
> "tirades?"  Is this really common?  If so, I gotta' ask, what kind of 
> fu......fouled up place do you live in?  'cause I really want to make sure 
> I don't visit!!!
>
> Realistically, how often... guesstimate... has this actually happened to 
> you in your life?  I do not have a desk job.  I am in sales.  For the past 
> 20 years I have made my living traveling around to dozens of cities and 
> towns all over the Midwest.  Big cities like Chicago, Detroit and St. 
> Louis; small towns like Peru, IL and Joplin, MO.  I spend all day walking 
> in and out of various public buildings.  I consistently hold the door for 
> other people, male or female, if it seems appropriate to do so.  And NOT 
> ONCE, NEVER, NEVER, NOT EVER have I received anything but a polite 
> acknowledgement of the courtesy.

It has happened more than once, but it is rare.  It may never happen again 
to me (I hope not). I grew up in a suburb of Chicago and it happened there. 
The first time I was openening a door to enter the Woodfield mall in 
Schaumburg and two women in their early twenties were a few steps behind me 
as I approached the entrance. I hadn't said a word to them. In that case 
they didn't go off on a tirade, but they made a rather snotty comment about 
some men not recognizing that women are able to open doors themselves.

It's happend in MN too.  I don't believe it has to with location.  It's 
certainly not normal behavior.  Women are almost always either polite and 
thank me for the courtesy or don't say anything at all.  I was just pointing 
out that there are exceptions...extremists... and since I ran into more than 
one I wonder how many ther are. Statistically it is highly improbable that I 
happen to run into all of thesm.

> So... while I recognize that there are people of extreme points of view in 
> every walk of life... I find it hard to imagine a place so full of these 
> extreme feminists that you are reticent to be courteous to a random 
> individual.

First, such behavior on their part has not made me reticent in any way. 
Opening doors for women is part of the way I was raised.

Second, I never suggested that any place was "So full of the these extreme 
women..."  I merely said that I have had experience coming across more than 
one.

> So... it's just a suggestion mind you... but maybe you should ask 
> yourself, "Is it me?"

With the exception of the woman that really went off the deep end I said 
nothing and smiled. The most vocal incident was another matter... she went 
on for a while asking me "How dare I disrespect her that much?" and started 
dropping a few "F--- You!" bombs at me. I finally gave her a brief response 
that stopped her long enough for me to walk away.

This woman probably had other things that were aggravating her at the time. 
That really doesn't matter though; her behavior was completely absurd, 
unprovoked, and inexcusable.   Even in an externally agitated state, the 
fact
that someone simply attempting to open a door for her was enough of an 
"offense" to start such a tirade in a public area towards a complete 
stranger is extreme behavior.

Had I said a word to any of them first or done anything other than open the 
door for a complete stranger, and not been the recipient of comments in each 
case indicating it was the fact that I had presumed to open a door for them, 
I might be more concerned that it was me.

As I said, they were exceedingly rare and isolated incidents...so much so 
that they were memorable.

> Perplexed,

Me too, honestly.

Carl

Discourtesy does not spring merely from one bad quality, but from
several--from foolish vanity, from ignorance of what is due to others,
from indolence, from stupidity, from distraction of thought,
from contempt of others, from jealousy.

-- Jean de la Bruyere
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