Fine Men

I’ve had good reason to distrust people lately, especially the male of the species. But in the last week, and in the face of the poor behavior of others, two men have floored me — and completely restored my faith in human beings.

I’ve been going through life in the way I was raised; behaving ethically and with respect for the people around me. Yet because of weird and uninformed reactions to my book, I was starting to despair that anyone would ever see me again for the person I truly am.

This week, a man from my past continued his disrespectful, abusive treatment of me — even trying to infiltrate an intellectual salon of which I’ve been a long-standing member. He wanted me to be tossed out of a meeting of my very own group, just because he wanted to attend — and even went so far as to claim he was an invited speaker. But the group’s founder circled the wagons, sticking up for me and barring my former paramour from attending, despite that man’s substantial legal ammo. After I got the news, I walked down the street standing tall — and smiling at the men passing me for the first time in three years. He did the right thing, which so few do.

And then today, I spent four hours commuting to a longstanding lunch, only to be stood up upon arrival. I needed to shop for a dress anyway, so I drove to a mall near the beachfront community, where I had lunch by myself in a California Pizza Kitchen. There was an attractive gentleman to my right at the bar counter, and we exchanged a smile. He left, and I requested my check. But the man, whom I’ll likely never see again and had no way of thanking, had paid for my meal.

Maybe it’s the new administration, and the nation’s new sense of service and pride. Maybe my life finally came together just now. Because of knowing my incredible father, I knew that men had the capacity for greatness. But whatever it is, I’m glad to learn that men in general really are the fine human beings I always suspected they might be.