Protect Her Honor

My day job is in marketing and PR. I recently attended a conference in Orlando as an exhibitor where I met an older, friendly couple familiar with the area. They were both very talkative and eager to tell me about local restaurants and attractions that didn’t involve the ever-so-prevalent mouse (as in Mickey). They were also eager to talk about the hotel they were staying at and how unhappy they were with the accommodations.

Moments after the converstaion ended and the couple walked away from my booth, the man came back.

“We’re married. We have different last names, but I just want you to know she’s my wife. I didn’t want you to get the wrong impression about us sharing a hotel room.”

My reaction was delayed. I heard the words that were coming out of his mouth, but I didn’t understand why he was telling me. I smiled, laughed a little, and responded with: “uh, no problem.”

I didn’t get it. Why did he care what I thought? But then I realized it wasn’t so much me that he cared about. He was protecting her honor. As old-fashioned as it is, and even though I don’t necessarily agree with it (women should keep their names if they want to and sleep with men they aren’t married to for that matter) it is romantic to see a man who respects his wife so much that he doesn’t want a perfect stranger to misunderstand her.