A man helped a woman through floodwater to “All Too Well,” and TikTok declared chivalry alive
Apparently, chairs are the new chivalry.
A video of a man helping a woman through floodwater at Flagler College, Florida has gone viral on TikTok, with viewers becoming fixated on one question: Why didn’t he just carry her?
Posted by TikTok user @averisivak, the video shows a man helping a woman cross floodwater by moving chairs as stepping points for her, as Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” plays over the footage. The clip has racked up 7.2 million views, 930,800 likes, 238,900 shares, and 26,700 comments.
Both people featured in the video have since identified themselves in the comments. The woman, TikTok user @alyssagalianoo, wrote, “Hi this is me!! He was very nice,” while @nicoborrelliii, who appears to be the man in the video, commented, “Yo thats me.”
TikTok wanted him to carry her
Viewers quickly focused on the fact that the man did not simply pick the woman up, with one of the video’s most popular comments asking exactly that.
“Why didn’t he just carry her?” Destiny Riggs wrote. The comment has received more than 814,000 likes and more than 1,500 replies. Other viewers had their own theories about why the man did not carry her. “Maybe they’re not in [a] relationship and he respects her,” one person wrote.
Another commenter suggested a different approach, asking, “Wouldn’t it be easier to carry her like this?” and attaching a photo showing an alternative way of carrying someone through the water. The clip also prompted viewers to apply their own relationship logic to the situation. “If she wanted [to] she would… [Don’t] settle for less guys ??,” one person commented.
Viewers started speculating about the pair
Some viewers interpreted the interaction as a missed romantic opportunity, while others pointed out that there is no indication in the video that the two are actually a couple. The comments quickly turned the short interaction into a discussion about what men owe women—and whether chivalry is dead, or in this case, ‘alive.’
“She 100% friendzoned him,” one commenter wrote. Another asked, “imagine if they don’t even know each other.”
Both he and the woman have also reposted the viral video. The interaction has left viewers with plenty of room to speculate about the pair, particularly with “All Too Well” playing over the footage. The song’s association with dramatic relationship stories only added to the way TikTok users interpreted what they were watching.
The comments, however, do not establish whether the two are dating, friends, or simply acquaintances. What the woman herself did establish was that the man “was very nice”—which, for TikTok, was apparently enough to turn a brief moment in floodwater into a full-blown discussion about chivalry.
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