I managed to bother him enough that he let her go and started chasing me, screaming "I'm going to kill you!" I had hoped I could get him to chase me, since I was almost certain I could outrun him. I just wanted to give the woman enough time to get away.
Sure enough, I left him far behind. Thirty minutes later I went back to the parking lot to see if I could locate something I had dropped in the excitement. A young guy recognized me, and told me what had happened after I left. The woman got in a car, and when the man reappeared in the parking lot, she almost ran him over as she drove off.
A good outcome, I thought. The woman was intact, I was intact, and even the maniac was intact. I had fulfilled the obligations of chivalry without getting anyone hurt.
I'm not at all sure that given the opportunity (and the ability) I would do it again. Chivalry makes serious demands on men, but these days it is too obvious that there are no comparable demands made on women. The modern version of chivalry seems to be this: Men are supposed to defend women with their lives because that's better for women, and that's all that counts.
Today I listened to two young women at a nearby restaurant table engage in loud male bashing. Male bashing is now commonplace -- it's normal American female behavior. Why on earth would I risk my life to defend women who think I'm their inferior?
As for door-holding, I will hold the door for anyone. Over the years only a couple of feminists have been vocal about being offended. I'm glad I offended them.
“Today I listened to two young women at a nearby restaurant table engage in loud male bashing.”
What kind of stuff were they saying?
Were they supermodels?