Are You A Gentleman?

It pays to be a gentleman — admired by men for your ease in every situation and by women for your civil ways.

This, we need in our overly chaotic society!

A gentleman dresses appropriately for any occasion, knows instinctively how to treat women, acts his age and is always fun to be around.

A gentleman follows some established rules. However, author John Bridges insists that gentlemanly behavior is not about do's and don't's; it's about common sense and courtesy.

In Nigeria today, it seems gentlemen do not exist! A typical Naija man no get time for all this points I posted below.

If you think you are a gentleman, go through these pointers and see:

A gentleman . . .

• Keeps to the right, whether he is walking on a sidewalk, down a hallway or on the stairs. 

• does not attempt to walk and send text messages simultaneously.

• waits for a woman to initiate a social kiss. If she leans toward him, he turns his cheek toward her lips. And when she graces him with a light, brushing kiss, he doesn't dawdle in accepting it.

• doesn't wipe away a lipstick smudge in the presence of the woman who planted it on him. He bears it, even if briefly, as a badge of honor, wiping it away later with a handkerchief.

• waits until a lady at the table lifts her fork before he takes his first bite.

• places his knife and his fork on his plate side by side, as if they were the hands of a clock set at 5:25, when he's finished eating.

• always has an umbrella to share.

• never wears a belt when he is wearing suspenders.

• leaves the bottom button of his vest undone.

• never wears a bow-tie with a button-down shirt.

• owns at least one pair of black lace-up shoes.

• usually takes his shirts to the laundry but knows how to use an iron and spray starch.

• is careful about what he says in e-mails. He meticulously reviews his messages, editing if necessary to make sure recipients will understand what he's saying — and the tone in which he says it.

• knows how to make a grilled cheese sandwich at 2 a.m. and an omelet at 7 a.m.

• doesn't flaunt his newest gadgets, no matter how expensive or cutting-edge they may be.

• never wears the same pair of blue jeans two days in a row.

• puts the liquor away when he wants guests to leave.

• always offers to get up and make the coffee in the morning.

• never waits for something better to turn up.

...Adapted