When I was a
young man in my early 20s I began courting a lovely woman whose name I cannot
recall. One day I took her to an outdoor screening of The Sound of Music at the
Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto. At the very last minute I decided to take my
brother along with us. He is aspiring to become a film major and he loves The
Sound of Music. The film was marvelous and the night air was crisp. My favorite
scene was when Rolfe found them and captain asked him to join them. He had an opportunity
and chose not to act, a feeling I found soon understand later that night. Being
the gentleman that I am I drove the lady home and walked her to her door and we
reflected on the evening. She said something about my brother but in all
honesty I wasn’t really listening. Her neighborhood didn’t have many working
street lights and was very dark. If it wasn’t for the obvious cries for help we
would not have known what had happened just a few blocks over. An old lady
walking home was robbed. The thief had snatched her purse and started running
down the street. I could’ve easily told myself that I was too stunned initially
to react quickly enough but the truth was I was too afraid to act. I bid the
lady a farewell, got back in the car and ask my brother what I should have
done. He had not seen anything because it was dark and partly because he’s
rarely aware of his surroundings. When I told him what had happened he said “you
should have done something, obviously”. I remember something my English teacher
once taught me: he said “injustice take happens when great men do nothing” or
something like that he may have quoted someone but it made me think. Before
tonight if someone asked me “would you try to stop a thief if you had the chance?”
I’d say yes instinctively. It seems there is an unspoken code between
gentlemen: Invite a film lover to a film, escort a lady to her door, and stop a
thief. But the difference between gentlemen is their will to act. My brother called
me a coward that night, and although I hate it when he challenges me like that,
I couldn’t agree more.
-Men are all alike in their promises it is only in their deeds
that they differ
Molière
