He was sitting outside my building smoking a cigarette as I trudged home from the newsroom in the rain.
Even though we bantered about the weather, as I had already done a thousand times with various people all day, his quasi-flirtatious hello really did brighten my night.
And it's about time I thank the gentlemen on this campus for just that.
Yesterday, I counted at least five guys that held the door open for me. Trust me, it's not because I look cute. In fact, I was wearing the same hooded sweatshirt I had on the day before.
Needless to say, every college campus has its share of jerks. It's not like I haven't come across them, but mostly not in my sober day-to-day reconnaissance of men. Crime reports for sexual assault are all over the dorms, so obviously we have some rotten apples.
Here's something I don't normally write in the newspaper: most guys want to rescue women, not rape them.
And by rescue, I mean tell us we look nice on a fat day.
Oftentimes I cannot detect the Nice Guys on first glance because they come in many different shapes and sizes and appear to listen to many different types of music. But they have one thing in common: apparently they know how to treat a lady on the first encounter.
Strangely enough, even with all of these Nice Guys around, single girls like myself complain that they can't find one. WTF
we say to ourselves when we curl up in our beds alone.
I dated more guys during the summer than I did for an entire year in Athens. This is a phenomenon I hear repeatedly from other women. Personally, I am not looking forward to living off my summer romances for an entire cold, snuggle-less winter. My sustenance is running out, and I'm not the sort to sleep tight like Snow White.
It could be that the average Nice Guy is just waiting for the next nice unsuspecting girl in the same sweatshirt she has worn all week to walk out of a door at the same time as he so he can gallantly hold it open for her and then ensue to sweep her off her feet. But, tragically, she just smiles a genuine thank you and goes about her business, as if she could've opened the door for herself or something.
Perhaps all Nice Guys are just off limits. Blinking neon lights that say off limits would really be useful. Of course, I still appreciate the fact that they are Nice Guys and I congratulate the lucky girl, guy, car or X-Box that holds their undivided affection.
I'm not just another single girl wondering where all the knights in shining Armani or Abercrombie or Airwalks are. I know they are on this campus, maybe holding the door at the bottom of the stairs, or even going out of their way to pump the keg.
Regardless of whether I ever snag a Nice Guy for my own, there's nothing like a bit of chivalry to wake a girl up from her glass case after eating one to many rotten apples. Keep up the good work, gentlemen.
-Ellie is sophomore journalism major who expects you to hold the door open when you see her from now on. Send her an e-mail at ellen.behling@ohiou.edu. 17
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Ellie Behling
