ladies first.

here i am sitting by the fireplace at the starbucks on alki on a rainy afternoon. i went up to go get a coffee and the older man and wife in front of me were taking a long time, ordering their drinks, then after paying, asking for change for a $5. the barista couldn't open the drawer without a transaction, so the husband bought something else, and turned to me a couple of times in this whole process apologizing that it was taking so long. turns out, he wanted to break the $5 so he could tip the barista for being so accomodating of their complicated drink order. he then turned to me to thank me for my patience.

a few minutes later the three of us were at the drink fixing stand, and his wife was using the half and half. he joked that he was in my way again, and told me that as soon as his wife was finished, he was going to wait for me to fix my drink before fixing his. i said that it was okay, i wasn't in a hurry, but he insisted, saying that i was a lady, and that we ladies need to be confident in the fact that there are still a handful of true gentlemen out there. because i am a lady, i deserve to be treated as one.

refreshing.

that kind of thing is certainly more common in texas, but even there is not necessarily the norm, and i certainly appreciated it. the kindness of the couple and persistent chivalry of the husband (while the wife looked on with a smile) quickly turned around my impatience with having to wait in line so long, and reminded me how nice it is to be treated like that, simply for the sake of being respectful and kind.