My Hope for the Young Men in the World

I know Father's Day was Sunday but in the spirit of celebrating good men I feel I should tell this story.

On Saturday, I visited my mom at her clinic. As I was leaving there was a man and a kid walking out of the kidney center. I assume they were related based off of the way they interacted. Since the clinic my mom is employed in sits on the second floor along with the kidney center, the kid, the older man and I proceed to the elevator. I got in first and hit the button to get to the first floor. The man and the kid walked in too. Now, I believe this kid was probably closer to the teenager range. He couldn't be any younger than 8 but I was guessing somewhere between 10 and 13 years of age. Also, I hate stereotyping but he was of some ethnic group that I believe to be a minority. Which is why I think this story is awesome.

We reached the first floor and the elevator open. The older man walked out first leaving me and the kid in the elevator. The kid motioned for me to go first. I liked the gesture and said thank you. What happened next made my day. The kids ran as fast as he could to the sliding doors and stepped in front of me. I was curious as to why he would do such a thing. He also put a hand up to the older man and said "I thought Dad said 'ladies first.' He turned to me and gestured for me to go before him.  I was impressed. Then, when we were all out in the parking lot he opens the door of a mini-van waiting for the two of them. He helped this older man into the first seat of the car, then ran to the back and said "no I'll sit in the back." Before the door shut I see a much younger girl (I am assuming a younger sister) sitting in the middle row of the mini van.

Now, I give this story because to me, it restores my faith in the male gender. Now, not all guys are bad and even women have their flaws. But growing up outside of Utah I had friends with divorced parents, fathers (and even the occasional mother) not present or not living a psychologically good lifestyle (for the kids at least...many had a much younger mistress or something along those lines) I was pleased to see this family attempting to make a young man out of this boy! I believe the first step to raising a good man is to make sure he respects women and sees women be respected. The fact that his father taught him to be kind enough to let the women he encounter feel respected, whether it was a complete stranger or his baby sister, gives me hope for the men in the world. My hats off to the men trying their absolute best to raise honorable respectable young men.

It was a small act and seemingly insignificant but I believe something this small can make a huge difference in this young man's life.