Ladies and gentlemen, although sometimes it may appear to the contrary, I am pleased to inform you that chivalry is alive and well.

On the one hand, radio personalities like Alan Jones, and some members of our parliament feel free, seemingly without repercussions, to bully and intimidate those that disagree with them.  Alan Jones’ most recent outburst was particularly repulsive.  His attack coincided with public and private displays of machismo leading to an increase in domestic violence on the weekend that the national footy finals were held.  As for America, don’t get me started.  On the other hand, thankfully there remains a large cohort of young men that are decent human beings.  And I’m not just saying that because a young man charmed the pants off me yesterday, figuratively speaking that is.  Well maybe I am saying that because I was flattered, but it is a nice story anyway.

Yesterday I was door-knocked by three young people — two lads and a young lady — raising money for Canteen, a charity that raises funds for teens with cancer.  It is the school holidays so quite a few young people take part in various community service activities at this time.  Anyway, I was out back working on my art project when they came calling.  Because rain was expected later in the day, I had decided to get an early start on my project and deferred my usual shower.  I was wearing my daggiest holey leggings and was bra-less in my old lime-green baggy pullover.  My hair was needing a wash and was lank and unkempt.  In other words, I was looking my most rugged.

As it happened, the three young people were also wearing lime green tops and we initially exchanged pleasantries about our matching outfits.  However, I was embarrassed and sought to apologise for my attire, saying “Please excuse for me looking so….” but before I could complete my sentence, one of the young men chimed in with “fabulous.”  I was actually going to say scruffy was my rejoinder.  While I did not donate on this occasion, I did enjoy the company of those young people, however momentary.  They were not at all pushy and terribly gracious.  Kudos to the parents of that young man for raising such a lovely boy and to all the parents concerned for raising such well-mannered and community-minded young people.

How is it that many young people today are possessed with a poise and grace, that I, a grown woman, do not have the emotional intelligence to emulate?  This has been brought home to me time and again.  On one occasion when I asked my 16 year old son whether he had been bullied at school, he replied that some jocks had called him a faggot once.  I hope you told them to eff off, I said.  But no, his response to them was “Why thank you!”  WT#!  Like me, his antagonists were completely nonplussed and did shut the eff up.

“I just took the high moral ground,” my son informed me.

I couldn’t have been prouder and learnt a valuable lesson myself from this exemplary young man.

Personally, I think there are quite a few of my vintage that should just shut the eff up and let the young people get on with making this country a better place.

Comments welcome.  Can’t find the Comments Section?  Keep scrolling.

Kind Regards
Tracy

This is my response to the Ragtag Daily Prompt — Rugged.  Looking for blogging inspiration?  Click on the link for the current day’s prompt and Follow the Ragtag Community to get the latest prompt.

29 thoughts on “Let’s Hear It For The Boys”

  2. A lovely story Tracy and I believe there is plenty of hope. Your son and the nice young man at the door are typical of many fine, wise beyond their years youngsters who make this world a better place. You’re doing great when your boy can take the moral high ground! 🙂💖 xxx

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    1. Thanks Xenia. I am full of hope that the young people will lead by their excellent example. And my son is already having a big impact on the lives of youngsters through training them in circus arts. It is such an inclusive activity, which was the making of him. However, we didn’t always see eye to eye. 🙂

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  4. Tracy–this was a fabulous post. Kudos to your son. Shame on those bullies–but he did leave them speechless. You do have to wonder what goes on in the home, though, for kids to taunt others so.

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    1. Thank you, Lois. According to my son, most kids are exceedingly tolerant. I think those sort of taunts only work on kids that are feeling socially isolated. Thankfully, my son has wonderful friends. But yep, bullying is a real problem. You only have to look at how adults in the broader community conduct themselves to know that the problem is not limited to the kids.

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  5. I agree I00%. Despising the young makes no sense. We raised them and we taught them, if we don’t like them, we only have ourselves to blame. As for me in my interactions with young people now that I’m not teaching them, during which the bad pennies could outweigh a whole class of good people, I’m impressed, touched, moved daily. They’re great.

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      1. Disengaged, scared, anxious, etc. is a part of teaching. But some students are really and truly assholes. Some might have good reasons for being assholes, but ultimately when a guy grabs you by the neck and holds you against the wall, it doesn’t matter that he has PTSD and his wife left him so he resents women. What matters is your life is in danger, you’re alone in a building and this guy is out of control. In 35+ years, though, I can count those students on the fingers of both hands — some had no cause for acting like assholes, it’s just what they were.

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      3. I think I left because I was finished. When the assholes take on more importance than they deserve, it’s time to move on. And, towards the end, some of them were scary. 😦 But it’s fine. I was in the classroom for more than half my life (so far… 😉 )

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  6. Lovely post Tracy. It bothers me too that young people get such bad press (from the louts of my generation), and yet as I’ve raised my son and spent time with his friends, I have been impressed time and time again by their kindness, politeness and — as you say, emotional intelligence. 🙂

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  7. Wonderful post, Tracy. The misuse of power is, not only unsettling, but frightening to observe. Your son, and many young people like him give one hope, the world can be a better place.

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  10. Young people are our greatest hope, because the older folk running this country sure are making a mess of it. I keep hoping more of them will get involved as I’m sure they’ve got great ideas just waiting to be used.

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    1. Q&A had a show with young panelists a few weeks ago. There were also two pollies, Penny Wong and the lady who is the Deputy Leader of the Nats, ie. no slouches, and the teenagers were out performing them. It was super impressive.

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  11. Yes, there are still lots of good people left in the world, and many of them are male and young. Kudos to your son for taking the high moral ground! Sometimes the best way to instigate change is to model the behavior we want to see.

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  12. First: You obviously did a great job raising your son! I’d probably would have had an easier time at school if I’d acted like him but me being rather temperamental at times and not good at tolerating injustice chose another path.
    And I had to giggle a little at your attire greeting these young people who were looking for donations – I bet I look much the same with my old jumper or shirt, baggy pants and unruly hair – when the muses call who cares for washing your hair, right? 😉 I’ve been known not to answer the door sometimes because of that. Lol! 😂

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    1. I knew you would understand, Sarah. Sometimes bathing is optional. But the visitors came to my gate when they heard me trying to quieten the dogs.

      I’m not responsible for my son’s common sense. I’ve learnt everything about tolerance from him. Like you, I’m a bit too fiery to put the arguments diplomatically.

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