Chivalry is Dead. . .

Or, at least, in serious need of those medical shocker things that they use to resuscitate people in House! (Only after House has discovered the patient is going into cardiac arrest because they dislocated their finger and the joint is now leeking a rare poison to the ear canal cutting off bloodflow to the hypothalamous or some crap like that.)

I consider myself an independant woman of the 21st century, but yesterday I was questioning if we haven't all just shot ourselves in the foot. I had at least 5-7 able-bodied men walk past me as I backbreakingly scraped a foot of ice and snow off my car--a half hour homage to winter in Chicago. I even knew one of the lovely gentleman. He gave me a nice salutation as he kept walking on by. I could tell it didn't even occur to him to help me. This would never have been the case in my mother and father's era.

Am I saying we should go back to the days of pinafores, waiting by the phone, or dances where you leave room for the holy spirit? No.

But, what is the line here on common decency?

Yes, I was able to clean the snow off my car by myself.

No, I didn't need a man to do it for me.

Would the simple gesture of a gentleman asking me if I needed help, at which point I would have kindly declined, sufficed?

Yes.

(Make a mental note, guys.)