Calling me Hun

[MelissaG]

And, Sugar, Miss Kim, honeypie, ...all meant with kindness and affection in the south. Up north here if you say those things people get easily offended. I think it’s just a cultural thing. We offend pretty easily as a species anymore, don’t we?

The "miss" part is what hit me hard when I moved here. It seems like something left over from the times of slavery. I can live with the others but that... I wish people would stop doing it.

 

[TheGecko]

(Change of subject: "y'all" is fine if you really are Southern, but the current overuse of it by people trying to sound cool is galling. Stop. Just stop.)

The South doesn’t have the monopoly on that contraction. Though technically south of the Mason-Dixon Line, I don’t think anyone would call Missouri a ‘southern’ state, but it was quite common to use it in the Ozarks. While I eventually outgrew “I ain’t done did”, I still say y’all almost 50 years later.

The "miss" part is what hit me hard when I moved here. It seems like something left over from the times of slavery. I can live with the others but that... I wish people would stop doing it.

It has nothing to do with slavery and everything to do with simple courtesy.

I do wish people would stop being offended at every little thing and instead look at the heart and intent of the speaker and give them grace.

Amen sister, amen.

I work in a very multi-cultural environment. And by “multi-cultural” I mean men, women, different skin colors, different countries, different languages, different religions, different politics, different ages (25 to 60), different family units, carnivores and vegans, and so on an so forth. Only once did we have an issue and that was with PC Karen…from her I learned that ‘inclusiveness’ and ‘diversity’ was just another name for racism and bigotry.

 

[DianaMoon]

The South doesn’t have the monopoly on that contraction. Though technically south of the Mason-Dixon Line, I don’t think anyone would call Missouri a ‘southern’ state, but it was quite common to use it in the Ozarks. While I eventually outgrew “I ain’t done did”, I still say y’all almost 50 years later.

OK. Then I'll change my line to this: when Northerners use "y'all" they are trying to be cool, trendy, and woke. It makes me cringe. It's as authentic as a New Yorker saying "yinz."

JMO.

It has nothing to do with slavery and everything to do with simple courtesy.

I've lived in the deep South all of my life. I got called "sweetie" in a public chat by a co-worker. I had to explain to my boss (a native Texan) why that was bad. And I also explained to him that if she called me that again, I am going to HR. But, it was all in the context.

She is a newbie, and asked a question that had just been answered and explained the day before. And I even pinned the thread. So, if she was doing what she was told by our mutual boss, and reading the pinned items, she would not have had to ask. So I explained that it was pinned. And she snarked at me and called me "sweetie". She was also mad at me for telling her that the training we are all offered would help her a lot in her day to day work.

Why didn't you just tell her yourself, nicely, that you don't like being called "sweetie"?

Amen sister, amen.

I work in a very multi-cultural environment. And by “multi-cultural” I mean men, women, different skin colors, different countries, different languages, different religions, different politics, different ages (25 to 60), different family units, carnivores and vegans, and so on an so forth. Only once did we have an issue and that was with PC Karen…from her I learned that ‘inclusiveness’ and ‘diversity’ was just another name for racism and bigotry.

Yeah, really. I don't want to sound like I'm some kind of NYC super-patriot (I'm not, don't get me going about everything about this place that sucks) but one thing we did learn is how to get along with people of all different backgrounds. I do not, as an adult, need to be taught about cultural competence, etc.

My last experience in the regular job market before going indie was being forced to sit through diversity training. I won't describe here what happened -- too complicated, would take a novel -- but it set a horrible tone. I was out of there after two months.

People get offended easily, esp. on the internet, but I'm going to say this: learn to brush off minor things like this. They just do not matter.

 

[Susie]

Why didn't you just tell her yourself, nicely, that you don't like being called "sweetie"?

Because she was trying to start a fight in public. And I value my ability to remain professional under all circumstances. I do not have to participate in every argument I am invited to. This way, only one of us looks bad.

I would never get upset with someone who called me Hun, Sweetie, Sugar, or any other term of endearment if it was either just habit or if it was sincerely meant. But the sarcastic sniping of calling me Sweetie, that I will not tolerate more than once.

 

[TheGecko]

My last experience in the regular job market before going indie was being forced to sit through diversity training. I won't describe here what happened -- too complicated, would take a novel -- but it set a horrible tone. I was out of there after two months.

People get offended easily, esp. on the internet, but I'm going to say this: learn to brush off minor things like this. They just do not matter.

I worked for the Feds for about a year in the early 90s and had to spend two days going through 'sexual harassment' training. Prior to the training, we were a friendly office, after the training we were afraid to say "Good Morning" to each other. Nobody laughed, nobody smiled, nobody talked unless it was strictly business...it was awful.

I went back to school in 2009...local community college; they had just established a 'diversity' department the year before. I knew when I saw the flyers it was going to get bad and a year after I graduated, it had control over the college. My sister worked there and everyone was getting daily (sometimes more) email from the department filled with Dos and Don'ts...a lot of folks referred to them as the "Gestapo". Then Scholarships and Endowments started drying up and enrollment dropped...it wasn't until they started canceling classes that typically had waiting lists that the Powers That Be finally pulled their heads out of the butts and realized just how 'unfriendly' the college had become. That in their bid to be 'inclusive', they had instead become 'exclusive'.

 

[MelissaG]

It has nothing to do with slavery and everything to do with simple courtesy.

So I've been told. I don't agree.

 

[DianaMoon]

Because she was trying to start a fight in public. And I value my ability to remain professional under all circumstances. I do not have to participate in every argument I am invited to. This way, only one of us looks bad.

I would never get upset with someone who called me Hun, Sweetie, Sugar, or any other term of endearment if it was either just habit or if it was sincerely meant. But the sarcastic sniping of calling me Sweetie, that I will not tolerate more than once.

I didn't mean you should confront her in the middle of a meeting. I didn't know that. I asked why you couldn't ask her, nicely, to address you respectfully in public, before you involved your boss and told him you were going to HR - that's a serious thing in today's world.

 

[TheGecko]

So I've been told. I don't agree.

And therein lies the problem.

 

[MelissaG]

And therein lies the problem.

That's not a problem, it's a disagreement. We can disagree without it being a problem. You are fine with it, I'm not. That's all.

 

[Hope Ann]

OK. Then I'll change my line to this: when Northerners use "y'all" they are trying to be cool, trendy, and woke. It makes me cringe. It's as authentic a

You do realize that people move and take their "southern' with them? Also, there are a lot of southern speech pockets in northern states.

Hope

 

[DianaMoon]

You do realize that people move and take their "southern' with them? Also, there are a lot of southern speech pockets in northern states.

Hope

Of course I realize that. I was referring specifically to hip "woke" types. I've heard people who never so much as set foot below the MD line using "y'all," virtually always to hector someone about politics.

That's not4 a problem, it's a disagreement. We can disagree without it being a problem. You are fine with it, I'm not. That's all.

If you want to understand the differences in American cultures, I suggest this great book, American Nations.

The elaborate social courtesies of the South come from cultural differences, which come from the ancestral homeland and the history of the South post-Revolution. Another book about this is Albion's Seed, which was a bit above my pay grade.

 

[Arimara]

And, Sugar, Miss Kim, honeypie, ...all meant with kindness and affection in the south. Up north here if you say those things people get easily offended. I think it’s just a cultural thing. We offend pretty easily as a species anymore, don’t we?

It is a cultural thing indeed. In NYC, 'Miss' is what 'Ma'am' is in the south. I might want to say was in this case. I'd get called 'Miss' by strangers who don't know my name and it's way more polite than if someone called me "Lady". As a child I'd call the female teacher "Miss [whatever name here] and as an adult, I'm actually supposed to still address women old enough to literally be my mom at least "Miss" (I was raised a certain way, ya know). Sugar is not even used up here unless some lady who knew my grandmother said "come and give me some sugar". Honeypie is an unknown name I have never heard and willl only associate with people who want "Diebeetus" inducing food.

 

[TheGecko]

“Miss” for teachers is a hold over from times when only unmarried women were allowed to teach. And the use of “Miss/Mr First Name” have been around for a very long time and predates this country. It is more common to the South and Texas, yes, but it’s not exclusive