This is so trivial but it has been a topic at my house lately and I wanted to present it to some of the brightest minds I know of. It's a pet peeve of mine to have someone younger than myself call me Hun or Honey. I know there are bigger issues in the world to worry about but for some reason this gets under my skin like you wouldn't believe. Normally I just ignore it when it happens but the other day I was at IKEA and the 20 something female cashier said " That'll be $128.95 Hun." I ignored the Hun part and went ahead and swiped my debit card. Then she handed me a pen and said " Can I get you to sign your receipt now Hun ? " As I was signing I said with a smile " Are you calling me Hun cause I've got kids older than you...anyone who calls me Hon better be over 70 and better be from the South . " She looked at me blankly and sort of made a sickly chuckle noise. Is it me or does this seem sort of condesending to to be called Hun by someone much younger than ones self ? Or should I get down off my high horse and get over myself and focus on real problems? I chided myself later for maybe having embarrased her for no good reason.
What do you think?
by exwhyzee 8 Replies latest jw friends
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tec
I don't think its condescending. Maybe it is just a friendly endearment to her? Poor girl, lol.
My husband and I were out for dinner last week, and our waitress called everyone by an endearment. I can't remember which one... love, hon, dear (probably not dear, that is not really a Canadian thing, imo). She was around our age.
Peace,
tammy
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ziddina
Hah!!
They called you "Hun"????
eeeeeeee-vil grin...
Since I have an SCA background, I'd launch into a brief description of the Hunnic tribes, their sudden appearance in Europe, their contributions to the collapse of Imperial Rome...
"The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns, considerable scholarly effort has been devoted to investigating such a connection. However, there is no scholarly consensus on a direct connection between the dominant element of the Xiongnu and that of the Huns. Priscus mentions that the Huns had a language of their own; little of it has survived and its relationships have been the subject of debate for centuries. Most authorities suppose that it may have been a member of the Oghuric branch of the Turkic language family, with the languages Bulgar, Khazar, Turkic Avar and Chuvash. Numerous other languages were spoken within the Hun pax including East Germanic, which was widely used as a lingua franca in the Hunnic territories.
Their main military technique was mounted archery.
The Huns may have stimulated the Great Migration, a contributing factor in the collapse of the western Roman Empire. ..."
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huns
Throw a little bit of that historical information at the next person who calls you "Hun", and I think you'll have given them a history lesson that they'll NEVER forget...
Hee hee hee heee!!
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mouthy
Oh my goodness !!! I am very guilty!!! I too have been shouted at for calling others "darling" sweetie" dear"angel"honey
I do it all the time. If some one is kind to me I figure they will know how greatful I am for their "love"
I guess I had better not do it anymore....( That is going to be a hard thing to remember it just come naturally) -
breakfast of champions
Not a big 'hon/honey' fan regardless of age or who it is or where theyre from. Just don't care for it.
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exwhyzee
Hey Mouthy (hun) ... don't pay any attention to me....you should keep on doing what you've been doing....it's obviously worked for you so far and you've lived to tell about it !
Zid : That's what I almost said to that cashier... " Did you call me Hun...as in Atilla the ??
Tec: Some people can get away with it such as a person with a heavy southern accent or a sweet grandmotherly type. There's this one lady that is a waitress at a cafe I go to. She calls everyone Babe,Baby or Sugar. "What'll it be Baby....Ok Sugar I'll be back with your drinks.....here ya go Babe" She's a Black woman from the south and it's actually really nice when she says it. She's probably in her 40's , very kind and she isn't smacking on gum or saying it because she thinks she's being clever.
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ziddina
"Zid : That's what I almost said to that cashier... " Did you call me Hun...as in Atilla the ??..." exwhyzee
Oooh, I like your response better - it's shorter and faster to say!! Though, my point was, to bore them to tears to make SURE they never used "hun" on you again...
But I think I'll borrow your Idea, if I may???
Next person who calls me "hun"... Gets...
"Do I LOOK like Atilla, to you????"
Hee hee hee hee!!!
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TOTH
It's annoying to be called by a term of endearment by a stranger to me. I tolerate it with waitresses because they are trying for a larger tip and figure MOST guys will tip them bigger if they are a little flirty.
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flipper
EXWHYZEE- I think yes, you're taking this too seriously. It may be the way the young lady was raised in just being polite or showing kindness to people in an affectionate way. I'm sure she didn't mean anything insulting to you at all. I've had waitresses or younger female check out clerks use that term towards me, and I just take it as a compliment as them perceiving me as being nice and they are just being polite, nothing more, nothing less. I think you're reading into it way more than should be. Many people were just raised with using more openly verbal expressive terms. They do it just to be nice. I think that's whats happening here.
If I were you, I'd just appreciate the kindness as a compliment and bid her to have a great day ! Unless you'd rather her tell you, " O.K. a$$hole, here's your order , now move on so I can help my next customer ! " ( Just joking ) . Personally, I appreciate ANY kindness people show these days- it seems to be in short supply in public places . Just my 2 cents