Terms of endearment

I’ve got this neighbor who always calls his wife sweetums or honeypie and I want to gag every time we’re at a neighborhood event. She’s right out of the Stepford Wives anyway but that’s another story. When we’re at home, the mister will call me dear or honey if he wants me to do something for him like make him a sandwich or wash his undies, but otherwise, he uses my name.

Why? Nothing sounds as good to someone as hearing their name. It’s a sound that validates us as human beings. Not only that, if your spouse or partner only use names like sweetie or honey or snookums, maybe it’s because they can’t remember your name.

Now when it comes to calling strangers pet names, that REALLY gets my goat. If a man came up to a man he did not know, what would happen if he called him sweetie or hon? Why is it ok for men to do that to women they don’t know? In my view when a man does that he’s talking down to the woman as if she were inferior or worse yet, childish. When my kids were small I called all their friends sweetie because I could never remember their names, but it is patronizing for a man to do it to a woman.

If you want to impress people, use their names. Can’t remember names? Practice it. When you meet someone say their name 3 times in the conversation and you’ll never forget the name.