A Few Good Men

After my trip to Sin City this past weekend, i've been doing some thinking about the men in my life. Let's back up a second to a couple of stories from the weekend that are at the same time oh-so-good-it's Vegas, but also made me think about the men in the world.

Our good man Javier:
We are stranded at an off-the-strip Mexican restaurant 8 minutes before our long-awaited "O" show starts (it's a great restaurant, btw!) and the owner of the restaurant - a modest, unassuming man named Javier - kindly offers to drive us to the Bellagio. We wait for him to pull up in the parking lot and he comes out in - yes really - a Hummer! My first ride in one and it's through the Vegas strip no less! Anyway, the man doesn't even know how to get to Bellagio - his life is his family, his restaurant of 15 years and the friends he's made in his life. He tells us to bring our friends to his restaurant next time we're in town and ask for Javier so he can do some tequila shots with us. LOVE him! Btw, his restaurant is called Lindo Michoacan- I highly recommend it to everyone on their next visit, and it got a 9.7 on City Search!

Not so good man, Balding Backstreet Boy
Our friends get a private VIP room at Pure, the newest and hottest nightclub in Vegas during this split second. Two obnoxious guys take up the back of the room - wearing all white linen and trying to act way too young than they really are with 5 women hanging off of them. One grabs my friend NoBean and tries to get her to dance. After about a minute of being nice, she says, "okay - i'm going back to my friends." Obnoxious man's response? "No. Dance." She looks at him in that "what did you just say?" kind of way and starts to walk away. He says, "No. Dance." and then whips out a wad of cash and throws money at her. NoBean takes nothing from no one and walks away, PISSED. Adding insult to injury, this guy proceeds to take more money out and throw it at her as she walks away. As she's telling us what happens, we realize all the bills on the floor are $100 bills and NoBean, her usual self says, "And somebody better be picking up that money for me..." No sooner does she say that does Obnoxious Guy have the bouncer on the floor picking that money back up for him. What an asshole.

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Here's the thing, when retelling this story to others, they typically respond something like, "Hey, it's vegas. Not surprising to have high roller guys like that who can get away with it. if not vegas, where would be a better place for guys like that?" And i think - actually, those obnoxious guys are all around me - at a lot of places outside vegas that i've seen. it just so happens that it's more acceptable in vegas.

I tell both stories because i recognize that there are both the nice guys and the not-so-nice guys out there in the world and if anything, this story accentuates the good from the bad for me. but i have started to realize that there are actually a lot of the not-so-nice variety out there and some men say "that's just the way we are" and many women accept it with "yeah, men are just jerks like that" and both groups end up carrying a lot of baggage as a result and i see it in all the relationship and family problems that my friends have. But why do people accept that? Change yourself or change the people you surround yourself with if you don't like it!

Then i realized how skewed my reality is. I have had the very fortunate experience of being surrounded by a lot of wonderful, thoughtful men in my life. I have never had a bad boyfriend. I have not even ever had a really bad date. My dad has always been supportive of what i do, who i date and who i am. My guy relatives have been a reliable shoulder to lean on. My guy friends are generally respectful and kind. And my boyfriend amazes me everyday with his honesty, support and love.

so then i thought about how often the men in our lives get the credit they deserve for just being the good guys they are. and really, they don't get it often enough. Women are generally the ones who get complimented, pampered and given attention.

So to all the beautiful men in my life - past boyfriends, family, friends and loved one - thanks to you for treating the women in your life well and right and for making each of my days a little brighter than before. Kisses to you all...