Day 159: My Fellow Knights and Scoundrels

Most guys want to be Han Solo. And why not? The wise cracking space smuggler, lives the life of a bachelor, seeking fortunes and riches, but ends up pursuing a woman (who happens to be a princess) after his conscious gets the better of him. And at the end, he got the girl and helped to save the day. But look at what he had to go through to get there.

And Luke Skywalker? Yeah, some of us wanted to be him too. To be the outcast kid (Read the book, Luke was picked on and bullied) who later finds out he can learn to be a Jedi Knight? The last Jedi, who, it just so happens has to learn to use a lightsaber (which in case you didn't know is basically a laser sword. And if you didn't know that, I don't know where you've been the last 32 years, but welcome to Earth.)

"This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster; an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times... before the Empire."

Forgive the Star Wars citations, but being born in 1977, the year A New Hope was released, and growing up with it, it is a part of me, and I'll wager a large part of every guy my age or younger (and some even older). Of course it had some influence. But what does that have to do with chivalry?

Some of us are just scoundrels, like Han, waiting on something to awaken the core parts of us. The scoundrels wander. They seek things they can't seem to find. They befriend big hairy Wookies. They drink excessively. They womanize. They shoot Greedo in the Mos Eisley Cantina. You know. The things that scoundrels do.

Some of us try to be knights. They try to live life by an order or a code. They try not to lie. They try to protect the weak and right the wrongs. They have a sense of duty and what seems right. They learn to use swords, or more modern weapons (guns) for that reason.

You probably think I'm a knight and always have been. That is true of my teenage years, but between then and now, I was more of a Han Solo. A scoundrel who knew right from wrong, but did not follow it. A person who finally realized the importance and need for knightly actions and finally followed through on it.

I know both knights and scoundrels. Some have crossed sides and gone from scoundreldom (Yeah it's a word, I just made it up.) to knighthood. A few seem to go the opposite direction. Most just stay where they are. But that's ok. The world needs Knights and Scoundrels. For neither one of these are truly bad, for neither is evil. A scoundrel might just need a cause to follow.

And what about you? Where you end up in that spectrum? That is for each person to discover on their own. For me, I'd like to be somewhere in the middle.

I'm not trying to be mentor, because I don't think chivalry is something that can be taught except by example. So I ask that if you are following me on this journey, (be you knight, damsel, scoundrel or wench) let me know your thoughts and examples of chivalry that you see in every day life. These don't just have to be the actions of males, for as I've said before, I think women can be chivalrous too.

Until next time,

I am,

Jeffrey R. Daniel

Day 148: The "I's" in California

This past week I traveled out to San Diego California for work. It was a good trip and myself and Bobby Keating (a co-op student from Clemson) had a good time and accomplished all of the goals set before us. But this post isn't about the work we did while we were there. It's about the differences in cultures that become apparent when you visit different places.'

Chances are where you live you have certain tendencies, etiquette and manners that you were taught. Differences come on the extent of these manners and practices of etiquette, and it was somewhat amazing to see how different Californians act in respects to the Southern traditions I was raised in/with. I've been to California before but it was always with larger groups in confined resorts that did not really allow for interactions with Californians outside of the workplace environment.

But this trip allowed for those interactions. In general Californians were very much like everyone else I've met, but one thing stood out that was different. They seem to be focused on themselves more than the average person. I say this in respect to how they treat others they don't know. A key example was one day at lunch when we were leaving a restaurant. I held the door open for an older couple, and two younger ladies to enter. They all seemed genuinely surprised and grateful for something that was second nature to me and my upbringing.

A co-worker who is also originally from the south and is working temporarily in San Diego said he has had much the same reactions when doing similar acts. He related a story of his wife's frustration at the apparent indifference to her need for assistance one day when she had their four kids (all of whom are young) and was out shopping. She was having trouble making it through some doors, and people continually walked by without asking if she needed help or even trying to assist her.

Another situation from the trip was when we were driving down near one of the beach areas after work one day. We came to a pedestrian cross walk where (I am not making this up or kidding when I say this) an elderly lady with a walker was being assisted by another elderly couple. I had seen 3 cars go in front of them, not even pausing to look at them. I on the other hand stopped and motioned them across the road. They all smiled and waved, and proceeded across the street. Mean while the driver in car behind me got irritated and even honked his horn. I smiled into my rear view mirror and waved at him politely.

I write all of this to point out that different cultures and regions more or less encourage some of the ideals of chivalry. Are Californians bad people? No, definitely not (except the guy behind me that honked his horn) but they are farther away from the ideas that are essential to chivalry. It is the same all around the world, and I guess it is a decline in the spreading of these ideals and courtesies that appear to have chivalry on the ropes and close to going down for the count.

I think too, that it has a lot to do with being aware of your surroundings and not focusing or internalizing so much on ones self. In order to see that you could be more courteous to others you have to be able to identify that they might need assistance or that you could be able to help them in some small way.

In other news, my life continues. I have been traveling a lot. Some for vacation, most of it for work, and my blog here suffers for it, but I look to be getting things back on track.

Likewise with the travel I have been unable to attend sword classes. However, I am working with Sensei Urso to determine alternatives to the Saturday classes, as my Saturdays are quickly filling up with family and other obligations. I hope to have a set schedule to resume my training.

Thanks for following me on this quest. It has already been rewarding, and though it has taken many different turns than I thought it would, I think all of the changes are for the better. I hope that any endeavors that you pursue will be likewise fruitful and change you for the better.

Until next time,

I am,

Jeffrey R. Daniel