Even though you said it in a positive manner, hon/honey can come off as condescending to many people, especially if you’re not a significantly older person lol. Same with sweetie. From the sentence alone, she probably just thought you were being snooty.

You can use them if you’d like, just understand that some people don’t like them. I don’t like them but I also hate confrontation so I just deal with it. You could say “excuse me” or “right behind ya” instead.

I was raised in the south, but also was raised by my Mexican mother who absolutely detested someone calling another person anything other than their names. And for a Mexican family, that’s really something. Like, if my cousin’s name was Jose, he couldn’t be called Joe/Joey/Pepe/etc. But we also live in Texas and a lot of people would call us Dear/Honey/Sweetie/etc. So, for me, I can be called all of that, if the person is significantly older, or you can absolutely tell it’s in their roots (idk if this makes sense), but if it’s someone my age, or younger, it drives me insane, especially coming from a male, like it literally feels like my blood is just turning hot. I feel belittled or like their trying to be above me. And I know it’s not the reason, but idk.. that’s just how I was raised. I’m so sorry you had that reaction tho, I probably would’ve said something to you too, but I mean, if you’ve never worked together, at least she could’ve been nicer or more delicate about it.

I’m completely fine with things like that due to living in the south. It’s just kinda a thing I hear everywhere. I don’t mind of corse.
Now I hear a lot of northern women find it offensive and gross due to it being related to cat calling and some women feel like only a SO should call them that.
Id just respect that she’d rather not be called that, and call her by her name.

I'm ashamed to say that I've been that coworker who gets offended at "sweet" nicknames like "hon", "honey", "sweetie", "darling", and so on -- I'm a very masculine person, and so whenever somebody uses something "girly" toward me, it often comes across as invalidating.

My advice! I would say to ask her about it. Be like "hey, sorry I forgot your name. What was it again? What nicknames are you okay with people using for you?" -- it may be as simple as switching out "hon" for "dude", or calling her an abbreviated version of her name that's easy to remember. If all else fails, opting for just going "on your left!" / "behind you!" is normal cafe manners.

People suck. Sounds like her problem.

Keep your head high and let it roll off your back. You had no ill intent, and if she is gonna let an endearing common nickname get to her like that, shes not worth your time nor your distress.

I wouldnt let it get to you—ik this might be a little extreme, but i know i hate nicknames unless its a variation of my name bc it makes me feel uncomfortable but if you didnt know this persons name how else would you address them??

Hon is a term of endearment. This coworker just sounds like they’re offended by everything blowing up on you like that.

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I’m in the group that hates being called “hon” or “honey” regardless of the context. I don’t know why it drives me nuts but just don’t do it.