Today I met a young lady who told me that I am handsome and smart. The boldness of this statement caused me—in spite of my expensive sandals—to get cold feet, and with a wry smile, I went quietly thinking about this for the rest of my day.
I still don’t know what to tell her in response to her compliment because she seemed very pretty, smart, and business-minded. 24 years old, driving a Volkswagen SUV (Touareg), single, dark skin with no makeup, and curly hair; she seemed lonely and emotionally hurt.
Now, we don’t know yet the end of this story but today’s experience once again tragically confirmed that in a relationship, most women are still subject to verbal, emotional, and sometimes physical violence from the men they dearly love.
Men are not perfect—no one is—but we need more upright and good gentlemen to lead out in these situations and set the tone for future generations. Otherwise, all we get is a whole bunch of idiots acting like moral pygmies. We call on all men to do better and to be better.
As I’ve repeatedly mentioned it, loving someone isn’t enough, you need to show that love; and sometimes it takes avoiding to be present physically but absent emotionally, and seeing the good in people, even when others can’t.
In this history-making 21st century culture, treating women as second-class people undermines their dignity; and as the great Dulcé Sloan once said, “when you don’t honor women the same way you honor men, you’re leaving them out of history.” Now, we have some decisions to choose and some thinking to do. Good luck!
