It began a few months ago, she seemed nice and like the type of person I would like. I started off by playing it slow, I didn’t want to get attached, I was always afraid that if I ever met a girl that I really liked and showed her who I really was then she wouldn’t like me, at least not the same way I liked her. So when we first began to get to know each other I tried to stay aloof and let her do much of the talking. For a while it was working, I was learning a lot about her she told me things she never told anyone else like the fact that she had cancer when she was a child, or the fact that she never even kissed a boy. She would tell me things like that and for some reason those little facts about her always stayed in my mind.

I started to remember things about her that I normally wouldn’t remember about most people like her hobbies, likes, dislikes and stuff like that. The more she talked, the more I wanted to listen and I honestly enjoyed it, for a while talking to her was like my favorite part of the day. Other things that attracted me to her was that she did things that no other girl did that caught my attention. She wasn’t the type that always liked to have all these other guy friends, which made me happy because in all honestly I got jealous quickly, it was more of a reaction for me than a response, even the smallest things like getting a hug from another guy, or getting super surprised when she saw another guy made me suspicious, at least that was the deal with most other girls I liked/dated.

This girl was different, she was perfectly content with her girlfriends and she was fine with not having many guys in her life and that attracted me even more than her clear almost silver eyes, and her flowy hair. But she treated me different then she treated other guys, at least for the time being, she took extra time out of her day for me. For a while she even began to do the little things that I did out of habit like crossing her arms specifically when she is bored and making sure her chair was elevated all the way to the top. I am pretty sure I was the only person that always did things like that, so when I noticed her beginning to do them too it caught my eye. She occasionally told me I was cute so I thought she liked me and my gentlemanliness but I soon find out that the age of the gentleman is dead.

All the things she did like the copying my little unconscious moves and habits made me like her even more, to the point where I no longer tried to act like the type of guy who didn’t show his feelings, the longer I knew her the more I wanted to be with her, protect her, and be a gentleman for her. Of course there was always a little voice in my head telling me that this girl was trouble but after all that I described her to be earlier I didn’t listen to that voice, mistake #1. Anyway, I soon found myself practically doing whatever I could for her, I would text her goodmorning and call her beautiful even on the days when she didn’t, but I never told her I just called her beautiful anyway, trying to fit into her busy schedule anyway I can just so I can get to spend time with her, mistake #2.

I always considered it being a gentleman, opening doors for her, not taking a seat until she sat down first, buying her gifts, nothing expensive just things so that she thought of me throughout her day, things like lollipops because she liked them and stuff like that. I did things like that because I thought that was the way to go, I thought that was the way to get a girl to like you, I was never the type that “got girls”, part of the reason was because I had other things on my mind and because I never really understood how. I had some female friends and they always told me that being a “gentleman” was the way to go and so I did and I honestly tried my best, mistake #3.

As I soon learned the age of the gentleman is dead, things like that probably would’ve worked in the 50s and 60s but not in todays’ world, not in today’s society. Many women do like the stereotypical jock that plays sports but treats them horribly, or the guy that partied all the time and cheats on them every time he has the chance and blames it on the alcohol, those types of things keep girls running to those guys while the nice polite ones are “friendzoned”. Of course most girls would probably deny this, but from what I have seen I am pretty confident it is true. Woman are more likely to go out with the guy that doesn’t text them first, and expects them to, the guy that is going to flirt with numerous amounts of women behind their back without them knowing, the type of guy that may be funny but only wants sex.

Most women would always want those guys more than the type of guy that actually does care. Why? Well I am a guy, so I will never be able to figure that out, I never have understood women and I never will. Don’t get me wrong I not saying that women only like jacka**es, or guys that don’t care about them, I am saying that women like guys who don’t show it much. I guess in my childish mind the time when guys used to ask girls out to the movies is definitely over while partying and getting drunk with people you may not know so well is definitely in or grabbing their a** in public while other people are staring. I can’t complain because I am always in the mood for a good party, but the little me that always wanted to be the perfect gentleman has grown up and accepted that the age of gentleman is dead and it is time to move on.

Now back to the girl, one day I decided to build up the courage and tell her that I liked her at first she reciprocated that feeling but after a few months and I tried to be a gentleman she told me she changed her mind and wanted to be friends. I won’t lie that did make me a little mad, part of me wanted to know what changed her mind and part of me was hoping I could be like Ron from Kim Possible and make a comeback. But I knew that I had to grow up and doing those things like buy her flowers, checking up on her, buying her little gifts, opening the door for her, etc is what gets you in the friend zone in the first place. Girls like aggressive men who don’t always show their feelings. I really liked this girl and I thought we could easily have passed years together if we tried but I guess that will never happen. I realized that trying to be a man from Aladdin or like Ted from How I Met your Mother didn’t work and trying to be a man from The Other Woman did. So I decided from now on to be that guy.

Hopefully the future will bring me good fortune and better luck than the past has to offer me and presently I am doing fine I have since gotten over it and moved on and so has that girl. I occasionally see her but I don’t look for her throughout the day to make sure she is doing fine like I used to, I just think it is a waste of time I have other things to worry about and so does she. As I am growing older I realize the world is changing from the one I used to know from when I was younger, now I am just going along with it. As far as my love life goes I have had a few small flings here and there and that is just the way I like it now, nothing serious. As a man I know how to make women friends if I ever want to, but I will always be a gentleman at heart, that is just the way I am unfortunately I probably won’t need to be, at least not anytime soon because the age of the gentleman is dead.