EtG Examines the VMI's "Code of the Gentleman"

Fair Reader,

A former flame of mine took some time out of her law school toil to drop EtG a kind note on facebook. (And should you be on facebook, fair reader, don't be sheepish and befriend away, friend.) She was studying Justice Antonin Scalia's dissenting opinion on United States v. Virginia et al June 26, 1996, in which the Virginia Military Institute fought to keep the military academy all male. (They lost) The former flame said the argument reminded her of yours truly, and not because Scalia has my jowls.

Justice Jowly McJowlyJowls

While presenting his argument, Scalia reads "The Code of the Gentleman" from a booklet regularly given to VMI's first year cadets. It is introduced thusly:

"Without a strict observance of the fundamental Code of Honor, no man, no matter how `polished,' can be considered a gentleman. The honor of a gentleman demands the inviolability of his word, and the incorruptibility of his principles. He is the descendant of the knight, the crusader; he is the defender of the defenseless and the champion of justice . . . or he is not a Gentleman."

To interject: Although I would like to fashion myself as a valiant Gent with an inviolable word and incorruptible principles, I seldom compare the Gentleman's duty to that of a knight's. For one, I do not know how to murder somebody (but I do know krav maga if a thug were to step to my woman (and by "know krav maga," I mean "I own a tazer")). Besides, Knights are overrated. Have you ever been to Medieval Times? The Blue Knight is a wanker.

Tossers

Better to be a pacifistic Gent than a homicidal one.

Moving on: Scalia then proceeds to read off the list of guidelines that a VMI Gent would follow. As this is a heavy list, and as I do not want to hold you for much longer, I thought I would review this list in increments, to be followed shortly after this posting.

Shall we review?

1) A Gentleman does not discuss his family affairs in public or with acquaintances.
Well, I've pretty much f**ked that rule right well. Apologies, dear Father.

2) Does not speak more than casually about his girlfriend.
In the sense that "A Gentleman doesn't tell tales," as in, "I told my mates what I did to my lass in an Argos bathroom:" yes, I concur. But as I am a Anglo-Judeo male mostly raised in Manhattan, I have a tendency to talk about my lady troubles with more people than just my therapist, my psychoanalyst, my psychicanalyst, my family, my lady's family, and my local hobo.

Give Bojangles a quarter and hear all about my last girlfriend's Ben Franklin fetish

In short, when speaking about any unresolved issues between me and my lady, I always err on the side of restraint, although I do speak of the matter to a few people. If that is verboten in VMI's eyes (and the eyes of my former loves), my sincerest apologies.

3) A Gentleman does not go to a lady's house if he is affected by alcohol. He is temperate in the use of alcohol.
I believe I shall rename this post "EtG: FAIL". Although in all fairness, I have been sober for the past two weeks since breaking up with my last lass. It has been a strangely easy experience, save for those moments when I find myself shaking an empty martini mixer... as I sleep.

There are more codes to share. But for the time being, I just wanted to emphasize why "Amateur" is used in my blog's title.

A presto,
EtG