Can I Help you 'Love?'

Something happened twice today which really stood out as quite unusual in this modern day and I wonder if anyone else has noticed an emerging trend?

Now, being familiar with strangers can be achieved quite easily or used to be before the often pathetic politically correct austerity of recent years. Not that people shouldn't be treated with utmost respect, of course they should be. However, the first young lady (around 22 ish) called me 'love', more than once, it seemed quite deliberately as she served me at a well known food chain today. At Sainsburys, the assistant tonight (around 40 - ish) called me 'hunni' as she handled my bread loaf.

This is not the first time in recent weeks where calling someone 'love' in the service industry seems to have come back into vogue and appears to be acceptable across the age range. Now this is fine with me to a point. I guess I've become used, in my politically correct workplace not to being called, 'love' so that's why it sort of stands out. I wonder if this form of familiarity is now acceptable company policy?

Now if you come from Northern Lincolnshire, just across the river from me, you might get called 'ducks' as a familiar term, 'pet' if you come from the north east of England, and 'my lover' if you come from the south west of the UK. My fellow blogger Auntiegwen in her blogs you can find the expression 'hen' (is that from Scotland Auntie?) and my favourite current familiar phrase to those I know very well is 'hunni,' or 'hun' in text speak.

Derek Trotter uses 'pal' all the time, 'governor' is common round here as is 'my mate.' One I don't like is 'darl,' short for darling.

What do you use?

The other thing I need advice about is the ending of texts on the phone and comments on here for example. To women I always use 'x' which is a representation of a kiss I suppose, not literally you understand but a term of endearment or respect.(As a family or with close friends, I always use a formal kiss on the cheek as a greeting or as a goodbye.) What do you do for someone of the same gender particularly blokes on blokes?

Chat soon

Ta-ra.