98th percentile in protective instincts? Not quite...

Semi-serious/introspective post.  I'll probably stumble upon this post in the future and think I was incredibly lame for writing about this, but these thoughts have been resurfacing in my mind for the last 3-4 days so I decided it would be best to get them out. Bonus points for anyone who gets the above reference.  It shouldn't be hard if you've been semi up-to-date in watching recent movies (er, not so recent anymore).

I was recently talking to some friends and the topic of relationships came up; specifically speaking, those of our siblings (Stacey, if you're reading this, sorry).  As we were talking, the question was posed to me, "Are you a protective brother?"  When asked to clarify, they said something along the lines of, "You know, not laughing at your sister's bf's jokes, making him feel like he's on thin ice when he's around you, just being intimidating etc."  At the time, I kinda laughed it off with an "of course blah blah blah I'm so tough" type of answer and didn't think much of it.  But for whatever reason, later on, my mind kept coming back to this issue of protectiveness. Upon much further introspection, I finally succumbed to the realization that I am NOT the most intimidating person to be around.  And furthermore, were I ever called upon to "protect" anyone in a physical sense, I'd probably get the crap kicked out of me.  Some people just happen to be blessed with 6'3" 220 lb bodies and aggressive personalities.  I am not one of them.

However, I don't necessarily see that as an excuse not to be protective of my sister; at least in some way.  Who says protectiveness and physicality have to go hand in hand anyway?  I know plenty of people who are fiercely protective without being the most physically imposing (most mothers, heck, even my dog).  I think protectiveness has more to do with always having someone's best interests in mind and showing them that this is the case. 

Regarding my sister's situation, I think it means giving honest feedback and advice when needed, trusting her to make good decisions, and always being available to listen to her, should problems arise in the future.  I think my sister and I are very fortunate in the fact that we trust each other, and we're able to talk about pretty much anything.  I'm pretty sure that if I acted like an insensitive d-bag every time her bf came around, our trust would start to deteriorate and she would probably stop taking my advice altogether, even if it were well-intentioned.  Furthermore, if things were to not work out between them, she might even harbor some resentment toward me for never fully accepting him in the first place, or at least acting like it.  And from the guy's point of view, it's much easier to live up to the standard of being a good boyfriend if you're treated like one by your girlfriend's family instead of being looked upon with suspicion all the time.  I know this from experience...

I still won't laugh at his jokes though.  :)  Gotta make him sweat a little bit, right?