Women...

What a week! In the past few months I have seriously gotten back into my gym rat habits, it doesn't matter how frustrating or stressful my day has been, a hardcore workout just drains all of that away and I sleep like a baby at night. I've been going to gyms ever since I was a little kid and my mom worked at an MWR. My brother and I used to tag along and just hang out and figure out what was what. I developed the habit over the years of being all business when I go, I don't go there to chase girls or try to impress anybody. For me, a gym isn't a social club, at least not until a week or so ago when I met an incredible girl there.

 

This girl is stunning. She is almost a spitting image of Ms. Goodnight from the old James Bond movie. But I didn't approach her as beautiful women have a way of complicating my life, especially over here. That habit is hard to break when I go home, my friend Nikki tells me I often come off as too aloof or uninterested. Here I try my best to keep to myself but after a few days of this girl coming to the gym she started talking to me, just saying hi at first, and then making small talk. Then she told me one day that she had made reservations at Sammy's, the Turkish restaurant, for us the following evening so we could get to know each other. I figured it couldn't hurt so I dug out a nice shirt and cleaned my boots and off I went.

 

The evening started off really well, we talked about so many different things and I found out that she's got two degrees from Penn State, a big dog, her own house, and a range of interests that seriously rivals my own. She is the kind of girl that every man dreams of when he imagines a good girl. Somehow the conversation drifted into the character traits that we look for in a partner. I felt pretty safe with my honest answer that rather than stereotypes, it is the unique qualities of the individual that are most attractive to me, and she seemed pleased with the answer. But as the conversation progressed, the change that came over her was startling.

 

In the matter of a few minutes she went from being a sweet, charming, and coyly beautiful girl to an angry quasi-feminist with an insatiable demand for chivalry from a man. In retrospect I suspect that she has watched way too much television and expects life to exactly conform to masterpiece theater type behavior. She complained bitterly about the men in her life who have been such jerks, guilty of the cardinal sins of being 15 minutes late or not pulling out her chair at a fancy restaurant. The list went on and on and it's hard to describe, but the change that came over her was so dramatic and sudden that I was at a loss for words.

 

I'll be the first to admit that I am guilty of being less than a gentleman at times but I grew up watching the way my father treated my mother and his example was a powerful one. I can not recall a single incident of him ever even raising his voice to her, or to any of us kids. Sure he didn't always do all the little things like opening car doors all the time, my mom is every bit a lady but she would have told him to knock it off if he tried. Through all of her health problems he has been there to care for her, bless her, whatever it took. She has always been his absolute first priority through everything. When he and I talk about what the future holds for him, he doesn't talk about how much fun it would be to do this or that; rather he says that my mom would enjoy doing this or that, and it's obvious that he's just along for the ride and to make sure that she's happy because that's what makes him happy.

 

I was thinking that this girl is so intelligent and amazing, so confident in herself that maybe it might do me some good to try to conform to her advanced notions of chivalry. The distinction between my date's idea of a gentleman and my impression of a true gentleman, my father, was something that I was trying to get my head around until I started writing it down and then I realized that I was being blinded by beauty.

 

After that enlightening dinner, we had one final activity together when she wanted to go to the pool and swim instead of going to the gym. I hadn't been to the pool here yet so I went along, amazing workout btw. But it was obvious that things had soured somewhat and being the smart girl that she is, she called me out on it and I told her that while I am open to improving myself, her demands are just too unrealistic. The hormonally charged portion of my mind that I try to keep under control was screaming in my head, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?" as I watched her walk away for the last time…in her bikini. I so need to get out of this place!