"Thanks, Honey"

I understand your response to him calling you honey but as someone who works in a business where i meet a lot of people in short periods of time i have over the years come to use many euphemisms for people names such as honey or dear or sweetie. However i think the best thing to call people that i have found is "My Friend" no one ever gets upset about that. Even if you are just passing people who don't really know each other.

iam with your opinion.I think you missed the chance you should slap him.It is a bloody word i think it. If some body call my wife honey.I just kick him out.How he dare to call honey. Its not a friendly word only husband has right to say this to his wife not other's have right and its illegal .I my view " So you missed the chance,you must slap him"

If you meet such kind of person who addresses you in terms you might feel offended, try to be cool headed and be generous minded. Don't react but pretend it was a gesture like a passing wind. He doesn't mean anything bad but is just trying to maybe break the ice and trying to make his presence felt in a crowd of unfamiliar faces. Be considerate and don't get a negative impressions, it may not be what was intended, but neither are your response unfounded. Maybe you should believe what he says and not what you sense afterall it is not a killer's word. You should be equally appreciative as he is to you by being open minded.

I work in the public and I guess I'm just used to it or maybe I am too laid back...it really doesn't bother me. I get called "honey, "hon", "sweetheart" etc all the time. I assume it is just how they talk and it doesn't mean anything perverse at all. Maybe just a habit. I don't consider it out of line....some say it with their wives standing right there so it isn't as if they are hitting on me or anything like that. I am guessing that you don't work in the public at all because actually that sort of thing is pretty common. The man probably talks like that all the time and was taken off guard by your reaction. I am not saying that you are wrong. you are entitled to your feelings. I just think it was a complete misunderstanding. Just saying, i don't think he meant to offend you.

I live in the south. It would be odd for me if people didn't call me "hon" or "shug." I catch myself doing it as well. If I'm talking to someone, say for example someone on the phone doing customer service, I will say things like "thank you, dear." It's a cultural thing. Here, it's no big deal, although there are women that are offended by it just as you are. It just depends on what you're used to. When I get offended by things people say, I usually just smile sarcastically and walk away. Or if I can think of a way to say nice words but in a rude tone, I will do that. Most of the time I just walk away, though. I'm just not a very confrontational person.

i dont like it too.... i dont like when my friends (men), but especially stranger, call me honey, sweety, or something like that.... i feel like they dont have respect on me... i only want my lover who call me honey, sweety, etc, but not from other guys even my friends.... yes i always tell them to stop calling me that cos i dont like it.... i dont care what they think bout me, but i have my own name and i wanna called by my name...

Yeah I think that is a bit presumptious, although personally I don't think I'd take offense. It's presumptions and a bit inappropriate but also a bit of a compliment. Had he perhaps been drinking? Here in Ireland they have a term which I find SO patronising!!! Okay I'm in my thirties, but when I was working as a secretary, and often just in general life say if I pick something up on the street that a stranger has dropped, they'll say 'good girl'. That drives me ABSOLUTELY mad. The clients at the office where I worked, when they did that I'd sometimes say 'good boy' back to them. lol

No I do not think it would bother me really, the group of friends that I know all address each other as honey or flower, and even tell each other they love them so it probably would not bother me a stranger doing it.

Hi alegnaluvu~I definitely do agree with you that it is presumptuous to call someone that you don't know "honey"! I don't think that it is appropriate at all! I know that sometimes people do use it without really giving it much thought and sometimes you can overlook it, but it also does depend on how it is said and by whom! I would probably have taken offense just as you did in this particular situation!

In many areas, it is nothing more than a phrase and nothing is meant by it. I have been called "honey", "sweetie" and many other names like that when I was waiting tables. I just let it go in one ear and out the other. If it bothers you, you could politely tell the person whaat your name is and ask to be called by your name.

Yea i hate it when strangers do that... even when i used to work in a family restaurant .... i had customers.. telling me hey sweetie can you get me this... and then sweetheart..... i found that sooooo offensive...grr.....

Honey is a little too sweet,, I do mention darling once in a while,,but obviously not for strangers,, I ain't ready for any beating,,

I don't think that is a good manner to call somebody that you don't know much with "Honey". I think your reaction is normal and if the man get upset, he deserves it. Sometimes, people just don't know when and where to use appropriate expression. So, keep up the good work. Always let the stranger what you are thinking about them. It will bring a better quality of relationship in the future

Personally I think it is rude for anyone to do this to anyone else they don't even know. Some waitress called my hubby honey, and he said, "I'm not your honey." It made me mad too, because she could have said 'sir'... or something. In fact, my hubby said to call him 'sir'.

i wud be flabbergasted if sum1 called me honey, especially since i'm a fully grown adult male ( n not too attractive one at that too). hehe but i fully see where you are coming from. there are few things that are personal and which one likes to cherish. honey to me denotes something so pure, so tender and sweet that it is anathema to hear it from anyone other than the ones with whom you have a special bond.

You just need to desensitize yourself to that. I dont find it offensive at all, but thats only because I really dont think about it at all when it happens. Ive worked in retail and Ive dealt with many customers who w ere lonely and found dumb reasons to start conversations which then turned into their life story. Do i care? notr eally as I will never see this person ever again, but I was polite, and when they left, their story left with them. Ive seen many things done/said, and being called honey is the last thing that would offend me lol

It is inappropriate for a stranger to address a person in a familiar way. It's insulting. Even when I worked as a waitress in a truck stop many years ago, I felt that was wrong, though it happened often. Some men just don't "get it". They think they are complimenting the woman by calling her sweet names.

My perspective is different for one reason...logistics in two different locations. My people are originally from Baltimore where many people have the habit of referring to someone else as "hon". This habit actually identifies you as coming from Baltimore along the east coast of the U.S. These days I live in south Florida where people also have language habits. "Honey", "darlin" and "Ma'm" are all pretty much part of everyday conversation depending on who you're talking to and your age or the age of the person you're talking to. In the professional world...outside of Florida...I would not have tolerated a total stranger referring to me as "honey", mainly because I was in management and it would have been grossly inappropriate. In a social setting, however, it's never appropriate to insult an invited guest while assisting the hostess...unless that guest is being grossly offensive or making physical advances. Calling you honey, in my opinion, did not rate as either.

Hi, I 'll support U totally. Some 'address' suits with some,surely not with a Stanger. May be his intention was not Bad,but it's better to place somebody right in his/her place before he/she starts taking advantage on it. Thus,U've done RIGHT. =Lahiri,Kolkata,India.

This actually doesn't bother me at all. I worked as a waitress, bartender, tour guide and sales for the last 10 years. I've been called honey, sweetie, sugar, darling, pudding amung a laundry list of other things. I don't think, however, any of those people would have been upset had I asked them not to say it. Sometimes its just the way people talk and sometimes its a compliment. As well as I do it to other people sometimes... so to me, its no big deal.