One decision from a man for his woman friend on one night has sent people into a firestorm of blame, skepticism, and social politics.
Gallahan told BuzzFeed News she ran into her new friend Kevin at a party that the two of them happened to leave around the same time. She and Kevin got into a nice conversation about sharing their experiences abroad, and since she lived far away, he offered that they stop at his place so she could sober up and they could continue their conversation.
"I would have felt bad if she walked home and fell or got hurt along the way," Kevin said.
The two chatted in his room until about 5 am, they said, when Gallahan began dozing off in Kevin's bed.
That's when, according to Kevin, he decided to leave his own room and allow Gallahan to sleep in his bed and do something "productive" instead, he told BuzzFeed News. Gallahan fell asleep for less than two hours.
"If I was in that situation I wouldn’t want to be asked to leave at 3 AM to walk a mile home," Kevin told BuzzFeed News. "If something happened I would have felt really bad, and it seemed like an opportunity to do something nice."
So, realizing he still had to file his taxes, he took that work with him into his shared living room to let Gallahan sleep alone.
Gallahan explained that there were no overt thoughts or implications of anything concerning from — "He just said he didn't want me to be uncomfortable...waking up next to a sleeping guy could do that to you," she said, chuckling a bit.
"He's absolutely the nicest guy I've ever met, I would not have been in his house, definitely not his room, otherwise!" she said of Kevin. When she realized what he did, she thanked him "profusely" over the next few days.
Michelle Gallahan
You see, in the days following this tweet, Lipsey has been met with a litany of responses, both in fervent support and attack. The particularly angry ones are from mostly men who resented her implication of Kevin's responsibility in the scenario, and called her "sexist" for it.
Others accused her of skewing the story or making it up entirely.
Others firmly put the responsibility on Gallahan to not fall asleep on a "stranger's" bed (despite Kevin not being a stranger to Gallahan.) To these comments, Lipsey told BuzzFeed News she wants to set the record straight: "I do not actually think all men are trash. It was completely sexist for me to say that of course."
However, she maintains that the reason she tweeted it was to highlight something more positive she observed in Kevin's choices, even if his choices were not about "worrying" about what could be perceived wrong.
"That’s why I tweeted it originally ... I loved the message it
sent out about him being a 'not trash' guy and the standard that people in general
should uphold to," Lipsey said.
"I think that people should be aware that there are many ways to handle
a situation you feel uncomfortable in and one way is to remove yourself, probably the best way.
He obviously did not want my roommate to get the wrong idea so he removed
himself from any confusion. It's not the largest gesture ever but it is at least enough that she felt safe and he did the right thing," she added.
Online, Kevin's gesture is still being scrutinized and doubted. Kevin told BuzzFeed News he's been amazed with Gallahan and Lipsey over how far it's reached and been picked apart.
"I don’t think what I did is particularly fantastic or great, let alone noble," Kevin said in response. "I’m still shocked to see that it's become so viral — I was just concerned for someone who was drunk."
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/2CSPOko
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