To act or not to act: the will of a gentleman

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

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