"Sweetie"?

[missroserose]

I just had a dude on the phone call me "sweetie".

I'm honestly torn between being slightly offended and just plain busting out laughing.

Comments

[antonstrout.livejournal.com]

was he like a million years old?

My grandfather says it, but its endearing and old worldly, not mysoginistic....

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Nah, just some random dude who was trying to reach a city office and had the wrong number. I don't think he meant it to be demeaning, and it's not like he has any way of knowing that I'm generally not a very sweet person to the world at large. But still, it made me laugh.

[antonstrout.livejournal.com]

Still, it sounds better than, "Thanks, sourie!"

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

I'll certainly take it over "Thanks, toots" any day. ;)

[errant-variable.livejournal.com]

Even if it was delivered by Zombie Bogart?

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

That would just be creepy.

Period Bogart, on the other hand, might be one of the few I'd tolerate that from. He's about the only person I can think of who can make it sound classy rather than demeaning.

[flewellyn.livejournal.com]

I'm gonna start saying that.

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

The only thing I can think of in terms of similar delivery is Butt-Head's trademark "Hey, baby."

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Hey now. I call you 'sweetie' all the time. You should have had plenty of practice and time to decide between those two option by now.
(I'd go with 'burst out laughing' except I can't hear it over IM.)

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

You do. You're also my friend, and I know you mean it to be affectionate rather than demeaning.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Wait. Was this punk talking down to you? Want me to hold his arms while you mock him?

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

*laughs* I'm honestly not sure, and it's not worth bothering about, anyway. Besides, I'm perfectly capable of delivering withering remarks without the help. (Which isn't to say I don't appreciate the offer. :)

[tygenco-x.livejournal.com]

You might want to brace yourself if you ever come down here for DragonCon; you'll be called "sweetie" "honey" "sweetheart" and more. Not in a demeaning way either, it's just how they do things here. I occasionally run into a British or Australian or Irish or even Scottish visitor who'll call me "love" and say it as "thanks love" but there again, it's just how things are done. *shrugs*
Perhaps this bloke is from the southern states minus the give-away accent?

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

It's possible. Like I said, it wasn't immediately obvious if he meant it to be demeaning; since I was only talking to him momentarily it didn't really bug me. Still, the complete inappropriateness of the moniker struck me as amusing.

[onionhead.livejournal.com]

Heehee. I think it's probably different for a man to call a woman something like that than the other way 'round -- perhaps more condescending. But when anyone does that it throws me because it feels like it imposes a relationship template that doesn't fit. One of my coffee goddesses at the Heritage stand (the one who always knows what I want) called me "honey" and it threw me off. Made me feel kinda good, but confused me just the same. I realized after a little while that she called most people by such endearments after watching her interact with other customers.

Still, it was befuddling momentarily and caused me to feel things that I didn't expect to feel that day. Hee!

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

That's actually a really good way of putting it - imposing a relationship template, I mean. I don't mind when Cyrano calls me "sweetie" 'cos he's my friend and we do nice things for each other. But I didn't know this dude at all, so I felt a bit offended at his taking the liberty of assuming that level of familiarity when he hadn't offered anything in return.

Oh well. I know it's not a huge deal, and there's cultural differences and all, but it did startle me some. Hooray for being a surly standoffish PacNorthwester, I guess. :)