News headlines showed the other day an outrageous scandal on a college campus. A young lady got offended by a young man because he held the door for her.

My husband had a similar experience, 12 years ago, when he held the door for a student. She got upset, telling him that she doesn’t need a man’s help, and she is not useless and incapable of opening a door. My husband’s reply was, “I come from Europe, and men are gentlemen over there, and this is how they treat women.”
A couple of hours later, she was in his one-on-one communication class, and he tailored the course and taught the students about cultural diversity. By the end of the year, the young lady who was so offended by my husband’s gesture was one of his best students.

Young women, if you don’t appreciate a well-mannered man is because of your limitations. Be open-minded, break the pattern of how you used to be treated, and surround yourself with people who respect you and motivate you to build up self-esteem.
Young men, don’t be ashamed to show polite behavior. Stand for your virtues and prove that gentlemen still exist.

Take into consideration these aspects that will improve your life considerably:

• Don’t be ignorant
  Be curious and learn from others and be a good observer.
• Don’t judge people based on your present experience.
  Be open-minded and accept people’s differences.
• Don’t stay in your safety net.
  Broaden your circle of friends and interact as much as you can with people who have a different cultural background. You learn so much from other people’s experiences of life.
• Don’t let others influence your decision.
  Use critical thinking and don’t rely only on information that tv channels and social media offer.
• Be mindful and choose wisely your channels of information and your influencers. Don’t be blown away by the numbers of followers and how cool he/she is.
  Ultimately, you are the one who decides from where to pick the most useful information.

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