Just Venting

Okay - I'm going to vent about a pet peeve I have.  So get ready -- you may or may not agree with me - but, oh well.

I dislike it when anyone uses the terms dear, honey, baby, sweetie, love, etc. when speaking to me (or anyone else).  Are you my parent, grandparent, husband, aunt, uncle?  Are you even related to me in any form?  Have I ever met you? Who gave you the right to call me this?  To my way of thinking the only person who truly has the right to call me any of the aforementioned names would be my husband.

I find it demeaning when men use any of these terms to servers in restaurants or cashiers at checkout lanes.  But it's not just men who use it.  Women do to and it is just as wrong for them as it is for men.

Stop and think about it.  If your husband has had coffee at the coffee shop he probably called the server honey (or dear or sweetheart) three to four times just in the hour or so he sits and drinks his coffee.  She brings his cup of coffee or gives him a refill and he says something like "Thanks, sweetheart".  That evening, when you bring him a cup of coffee as he is watching TV he may say those same words, "Thanks, Sweetheart."   Who is his real sweetheart?  Does he not hold you dearer to his heart than the server in the restaurant? 

How many times has someone called you on the phone and as they hang up they say, 'thank you dear.'  Happens to me frequently.  Unless we are extremely close friends or family it is out of line for you to address me that way.  And if you just called for assistance on the phone, I am more than happy to help you out.  We have never, ever met - you do not have the right to call me sweetie.  I don't care if you are a man or a woman.  My parents are deceased, my grandparents are deceased, they might be the only one other than my husband to call me sweetie.  

And I do not mind telling people that I am not their dear, nor their honey.  I have a name.  My name is Kathie.  It was given to me by my parents and they obviously wanted me to be called that.  I have not gone to court and changed my first name so please use it.