What's it all about?

We have just had a baby boy and my wife liked the name Gustav... so that's what we called him.
Although not named after him, this has reminded me of my Great Uncle Gus and I have remembered him recently.

Uncle Gus was a proper gent and as a small child imparted lots of knowledge to me about how to behave like a gentleman. Unfortunately I was very young at the time and no doubt I have forgotten much of what he told me. But much of it must have rubbed off because I have a rather good reputation for being what the Americans would call 'a stand-up guy'. One thing is for sure... I do try hard.

It isn't just my new son that has made me think of the subject. Being a gentleman is a way of life, so its to be expected that all areas of my life will give me cause to think. And as I get older life brings new challenges and I'm forced to think more of others.

So the other day I got on the Internet and eventually typed in "How to be a gentleman". What I found surprised me greatly. I found a blog which was commenting on an article about how to be a gentleman which seemed to be all about etiquette. After this was a long heated discussion on the blog comments. The comments surprised me most of all -- some people said chivalry was dead. One lady said she was upset when a 'gentleman' offered her his seat on the bus because she was just as capable of standing as any man. There was great discussion about opening doors for ladies, standing when a lady entered a room, and whether or not these manners are old fashioned.
A couple of people suggested that the deterioration in the way people behaved was due to the "godless society".

I could hear Great Uncle Gus turning in his grave!
If he taught me right, and I assume he did, then very little of this has anything much to do with being a gentleman.

***

Today, a question of ethics and honesty came up at work, and as I gave my take on the situation my business partner suggested that I should write what I had said on a piece of paper and pin it on the wall for future reference (consistency is important!). I told him I didn't need to because it was the way I lived my life, and in fact, when I had written the company rules, the company ethos, I had already included pretty much everything needed that was needed on ethics and honesty. But his suggestion did give me the idea to write about these things on a blog, because nothing in life is black and white. Maybe my grey areas might help other people?

So here we are.

Here is my first rule of being a gentleman:

1. Every day, try to be better than you were yesterday.

I don't know about you, but I think thats a good start! I may not be the perfect gentleman, but as long as I follow that rule I should be heading in the right direction, I hope you will read on and follow my progress.